Does going in-house too early hurt your chances of becoming GC later? hear mixed advice — some say early in-house leads to faster leadership; others say you need big firm training first. what patterns do you see among people who make it to GC?

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I went in house early, after just one year in private practice. At first, the extra responsibility and business experience made me feel like I was developing faster than my peers at my former firm. I was leading deals in the hundreds of millions and negotiating on my own against much more senior lawyers. Friends in private practice would rarely even interact with opposing counsel.

Two years later, I feel like my development is starting to lag behind - like I’ve plateaued. I’m lacking wide industry knowledge and I don’t know how bring new ideas to the table when all I know is how my company operates. I can’t see myself reaching GC. I’m looking at returning to private practice to hone my skills for a few years.

Obviously your mileage may vary but I do feel l made the jump too soon.

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Depends on the firm.

4-6 is best. Earlier can be limiting. Later can be hard as well since you’re competing with people who have in house experience.

likehelpful

For what it's worth, as outside counsel, working with an in house counsel who either never worked at a firm or worked at a firm only a short time is a little more challenging than working with an in house counsel with firm experience (in the litigation context). There are just some things you have to experience first hand in litigation to really understand.

But in the transactional context, working with an in house counsel who has been in house for most of their career is great - they are more business minded and understand that some contract terms would be great to have, but frankly just won't happen. Working with people who have been in litigation most of their career is much harder when negotiating contracts.

So - it depends on your practice.

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