Anyone here counsel for a parent company with a lot of subsidiaries but the parent company’s legal department is really really small? I’m wondering if a small legal department for a large company is more of a pro or con? On one hand I suspect it’s less organized, on the other it might be a great leadership opportunity. Any insight? Thanks!

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I was, sorta. The main business was a clinical lab but it had dozens of subsidiaries doing everything from CRO, to drug discovery, other labs, and then there was a real estate and hospitality section. Basically, anything that could make the owner money. In that case, there was no leadership opportunities, but I had to learn to do just about everything in tons of different areas and geopgraphies. It was interesting for 5 years and got me a ton of experience.

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I am in this position. We only have 2 FTE attorneys for a number of significantly sized subs.

Pros:
NEVER short on work
Lots of insight into decision-making

Cons:
Juggling the pros effectively
Takes longer to learn each company’s risk tolerance
When you are trying to accomplish one thing across companies it can be like herding cats

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Yes. Pro for me/in my opinion. Less organized = more opportunity for growth. Smaller department = generally more ability to get serious raises. You will work more, probably rarely be slow, and have to work on a lot of different things, but if you’re early-mid in your career that is great experience for the next step.

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