Anyone have advice for someone making the dive into an in-house counsel role? I've been in private practice, but will be joining a very large company next month. I'm nervous, excited, etc.

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Depending on size of your legal department, it will be a much slower pace than at the law-firm practice. Majority of employees will be non-lawyers so makes it somewhat challenging since you’ll have to explain everything. But it can be fun and you get to learn a lot about business, marketing, sales, etc.

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Enjoy it, don't be a blocker, think creatively, be efficient, build relationships.

Depending on the type of company, practice area etc, go home at a reasonable time and live life.

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It's a large, established oil and gas company. Inhouse has always been the goal, but I knew it would take getting the experience. I find the work in private practice to be fulfilling, but I have burned out big time in the last 6 mos. This opportunity presented itself and I've accepted it with both arms open.

I've done a brief "inhouse" stint while in private practice (client asked that I come inhouse for a month while they made some internal changes), so I know it entails loads of explaining to non-lawyers, which I do not mind at all. I loved being there.

I know I will enjoy it. But, it's a new creature and the excitement is always mixed with some degree of "what do I expect?"

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Been in-house since graduation and was BigLaw para for 8 years. Be resourceful. Do.not.overthink. Admit mistakes. Lawyers tend to seem uptight to the business. Being chill goes a long way in building credibility.

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Admitting mistakes quickly and graciously seems a surprising key point. Very insightful.

Career biglaw here so take what follows with a grain of salt. But I have worked with many, many in-house lawyers, and become friends with most of them. The folks who thrive seem to me to share some attributes, including: (1) they work as hard as outside counsel and don’t treat in-house jobs as less demanding than firm work; (2) they work really hard to find ways that their clients can get where they want to go, rather than just saying no; (3) they respect the chain of command and learn how best to keep the right people involved and aware of developments; (4) they manage outside counsel actively but constructively by developing effective budgeting strategies for major matters and hiring lawyers who honor budgets and reporting requirements, and my avoiding micromanaging the experts they hire; and (5) the effectively balance the delegation of projects and tasks to in-house legal staff and outside experts. Relying too much on one or the other is a mistake. Good luck in your exciting new chapter!

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I did a six month stint in-house and I’d second what’s been said, the main change was the difference in legal sophistication of clients - I didn’t expect to have to explain why a liability cap of fees paid under the agreement on a small agreement worth several thousand pounds is a bad idea... on the bright side you’ll gain incredible commercial and business exposure.

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Congrats on the new position. I echo what that others have said above and would add that you should be mindful of the culture and chain of command to avoid ruffled feathers and bruised egos. Efficiency sometimes takes a backseat to politics, so you have to learn to accept the slower pace that comes with navigating all that red tape.

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ACC has a few guides that are helpful. Be a partner, manage risk. Learn as much about legal ops as you can.

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