Accepted an in-house position yesterday. I’m so excited! I’ve been in private practice my entire career. Any tips? So excited to not bill anymore.

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Congratulations! I worked in-house for over 15 years at three different companies. My suggestions are to build strong relationships, take copious notes in the beginning when everything is being explained (including internal business contacts with whom you’ll interact the most), and to ask about all applications / systems/ files that you need to use and access and ensure you have access. I have yet to work at a company where I started with all the applications and access needed. Set up a 15-minute intro convo with each member of the legal department. Ask how long they’ve been there, what they do, etc. (again, take notes). If you are remote or hybrid, set this up via Teams or Zoom, etc. Relationships are always important, but, in-house, your client(s) never change. Also, you are now a cost center and not a profit-maker. So, there may be more pressure to resolve matters and do things ASAP. Lastly, don’t be surprised when you are asked to wholly own matters with extremely light supervision. In-house paralegals tend to operate in more of a gray area. The better you are, the more independently you function, the more you have your own deals and matters with *VERY* light attorney touches.

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I’m actually really excited to have my own matters! They did tell me I’d be doing that. (Obviously the matter is still being handled by outside counsel) thanks for the advice!

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When it’s busy, it’s BUSY. When it’s dead, it’s dead. Don’t stress out about the dead periods - you don’t have to bill anyway 🤷🏻‍♀️ Congrats on your new position!

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We can use the copier without having to enter a client code!

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Yayyyy no more billables, room for growth and 40 hour work weeks. Down side…. It’s a little boring - depending on what your doing and no OT lol

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Ha ha ha that’s awesome

Congratulations! It’s an adjustment in some ways, because a business may function very differently from a law firm. Not having to bill time is a huge plus though. I’ve enjoyed the switch to in-house very much, and I hope you do too!

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Congratulations! 👏🏻

What kind of company? I just went in house 9 months ago and still struggle with no billable, no OT, lots less work 😆

I’ve been in house for a long time. Started out my career in a firm in litigation. In house…Everyday is different and the Legal Department’s philosophy is everyone in the company is our client. The trick is to learn how not to let all those clients run you
Into the ground and it just takes diplomacy, patience, confidence and polite assertiveness. Cooperative push back when needed. So much will depend on your manager of course.

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Be prepared that you may be nudged towards more admin/“department head” duties over time— lawyers want to be lawyers, and everything that’s not that could end up your job (i.e. scheduling team meetings/happy hours, giving presentations to other departments, managing the team’s software logins, etc). If that appeals to you, great! If you want to stick with more traditional legal assistant duties though, it’s something to look out for

As long as I’m not chained to billable hours anymore I’ll do whatever 😂😂

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Congratulations!! It took some time adapting to the slower pace of being in house and not having to bill for taking a piss.

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