First-year associate here! I accepted a job at a litigation firm because I graduated in the middle of a pandemic and I absolutely love the team/workplace culture but long term I want to be in-house. Do I need to make a move to transactional ASAP or is it okay to stay in litigation for a year or two?

like
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Just my two cents- it is very hard to make the transition from litigation to in house. That said, I did it- but it took over a year of looking and 5 years of litigation and general business rep experience before I could. When I made the switch the guidance from my mentor was as a litigator I could either go in house around 3-5 years as a generalist and be very junior, take a pay cut and learn on the job, or wait it out til the 10+ year mark and come in as in house litigation counsel. Not sure if that is true but based on job postings I found for my experience it did seem to be accurate. Certainly, in most of my interviews I had to play up my transactional experience— and I had to edit my resume accordingly. So- you might not need to switch, but you should look for some transactional opportunities you can put on your resume when you’re ready to go in house.

like

General civil- small firm so I did some commercial but not a ton

like

I'd start to move to transactional ASAP, but note that I wouldn't share that your looking to move in-house... All things being equal, firms want people who plan to stick around long term, at least at the outset.

smart

I would switch to transactional ASAP. You’re still early in your career so it’ll be easy now but the longer you wait, the harder it is to switch.

Try and be more specific than just “I want to go in-house” or “I want to be transactional” though, when you’re interviewing as a lateral. That is not a career path. Lateral hiring is not like first year hiring, they want to hear specifics.

Finance/capital markets/fund formation seem to be areas in high demand for good (well paying) in-house jobs after 4-5 years, but certainly not the only areas. If you’re ok with not much pay, corporate generalist (basically just deal with any and all contracts that come up) can be an option even when you’re pretty junior. Regulatory and compliance is also in high demand (I wouldn’t call this transactional). Often they’re looking for a combo of transaction management plus regulatory/compliance work.

I’d check out LinkedIn and goinhouse.com , look at the job options that come up and think about what appeals to you to do 5 years from now and what you need to do now to set yourself up for that.

I meant switching to a new firm with the goal of seeking out an in house job in 5+ years. Many of the firms with regulatory/compliance or corporate positions are seeking several years of experience, usually 2-4.

Related Posts

Is a Business Analyst closer in job role to a Consultant or a project Manager?
I have recently joined a service based consulting firm, with my role as a BA in Banking domain but wish to get into PM roles in the near future. I'd deeply appreciate your inputs from your career journey or any suggestions to eventually create a strong profile for PM roles in Big tech firms.
I'm sure this thread would help a lot of aspiring PMs learn from your journey

like

Is it true that less than 20% of engineers are women, even when there are so many programs specifically focused on getting females into STEM fields? It seems like it should be more evenly distributed

like

Hello I currently work in a parts department of a dealership, with no room for advancements. Is there anyone with any advice or expertise, that could help me advance or advice to help choice a career within the same realm with the option of advancement?

like

Best resources (books, online courses) to learn theoretical part of sales process?

like

Those who work in estate planning — what do you like about that area of law?

like

If you are not going to law school or thinking about it. Is it a purpose of staying as a paralegal throughout your career? I mean there is no any other higher up movement other than a senior or managing paralegal.

like

What are the most useful online courses in the DevOps space that I could take? They don't necessarily need to be free, but if Pluralsight/Coursera/etc. has a better group of offerings than another, I could budget 1 subscription. Ideally they'd be platform-agnostic, and/or cover multiple toolsets, as I am consultant and my assignments will be largely dependent on what the customer has.

Leaving MBB after ~18 months to join a MM GE fund as an associate on the deal team. I’m seeing some people leave MBB after ~3/4 years join PE Ops with higher comp ($400-600k+). Does Ops comp surpass deal team if you’re leaving from MBB instead of banking?

like

I feel locked into finance because I don't really have many other viable skill sets. Did you start studying something else? Get another degree? Just have really good connections? How can you exit if this is your only experience so far

like

Hi fishes

I have 6 years of experience in SAP and I want to switch to a data engineer profile now. Is there anyone here who made a career switch to data engineer after having more than 6 years of non coding experience?. If yes, can you please tell me the courses you have done and the path you have followed?

like

Anyone have any insights into the culture at redesign health?

likehelpful

What's more important, working with good people or for a big name firm. In terms of career success overall.

like

I’ve never really used social media and I don’t understand how Linked-In is supposed to help me advance in my career. Seems like like a load of BS to me

likefunny

Man I really hope Peter Olinto was right when said that everyone would want to date me after I pass the CPA, because that’s the only thing getting me through REG

likefunny

“I feel like I’m the stupidest person here”
“You are not stupid. You literally work at one of the top consulting firms in the world”
“I literally got a 6% in one exam during undergrad”
“Well damn I guess you are stupid”

likefunny

Anyone has thoughts on LEWIS Global, and how they’re doing in APAC? I’m thinking of switching jobs and this opportunity came up. I’m still fresh in b2b PR but very keen to dive into it.

like

I’m in asset management sales and keen to accelerate my learning in alternatives (private equity, private debt, real assets, liquid and semi-liquid alternatives) so I can have more productive discussions with clients. 1) What are some good news platforms to stay updated on alternatives space in Asia? 2) Besides CAIA, any educational platforms to learn more about alternatives?

like

What do you actually want out of your career in Big Law? What's your end goal for your career and for your impact on the field?

like

Is customer success a good exit option from implementation consulting? What exit ops are common for a customer success manager?

like

Looking to move into strategic planning. Advice?

More Posts

RIP TO MGM CALLS

likefunny

Does EY provide a cell phone or has tie ups with wireless providers for discounted phone and services? EY

like

What kinds of questions should I expect for a director's role in an interview?

like

The role I interviewed for had 2 recruiters. One covered the beginning and the second covered the end. When we first started interviews, I told the first recruiter my range. She said she’d discuss with the hiring manager to confirm it was ok since it was on the higher end. And now when I just got the initial verbal “you got the role”, the second recruiter told me the amount, which was significantly less. She said she’s going to compensation to see what she can get but in the case that it’s low

like

Anyone know if we’re reopening this Friday or not?

like

Investors, how much do you put into your STocks ISA each month, how much do you have and what do you use to evaluate where to allocate funds? Any good websites or materials?

like

Hello Fishers, Anyone working in Collins Aerospace in this network?. Could you please refer me this job. https://careers.rtx.com/global/en/job/01516916/Sr-Lead-Engineer. Thanks for your response in advance. Collins Aerospace

like

Hi, I am looking for an opportunity in Dubai for a Senior Java Developer. Please share if you know about any such opportunity.

like
like

GRE Quant score floating around 150 and I noticed I’ve forgotten a good chunk of my Algebra. Is it worth it to take a whole Khan Academy course or should I just stick to practice problems and learn from those? Test in about 2 months.

like

Hi guys, I'm a certified workday integrations consultant working in big4 currently and have 4 years of relevant and overall experience.
Can anyone refer me for Nagarro for the same role?

like

does a “branded” social media post have to have a logo?

like

What sales jobs make 500K to +1 million a year?

like

How is experience at Alvarez & Marsal - PEPI (private equity performance improvement) group viewed by MBB? Senior associate with 1.5 yoe at A&M within ops + 4 yoe in industry. Do I have a chance to lateral to MBB and what position can I lateral to?

like

Has anyone purchased their gown from a re-sell site? Nearly Newlywed, StillWhite, etc? Could you share your experience if so? I have two gowns I tried on in person (so I know they fit/look good) and slightly stalking to see if they show up on those sites :)
There also seems to be a ton of brand new gowns from Covid-cancelled weddings

like

Hi,

Is this a good time to join HP? As they have recently announced 6000 layoffs in 2 years.

like

Looking for a referral to Salesforce. 10 yrs of CRM( Dev, Architect , BA) and 2+ of Salesforce as BA.

like

Hi All, Need some help deciding an offer for IT Audit Senior Internal Auditor Role

1. Job A - 90K + 3500 Fixed Bonus + Unlimited Leaves
Industry Based Role

2. Job B - 84K + 12K Joining Bonus + 20 Leaves Please help.
Big 5 Consulting Role

Anyone get depressed after rolling off a long term gig?

like

Additional Posts in In-House Counsel

Any insights on reporting time spent on each project and challenges requested by the manager? Thanks!

like

Hi all! I’m a recent transplant to the USA, foreign qualified in New Zealand. Worked on global issues with counterparts across the world. Have experience in startups, international contracting, litigation and foreign policy. Finding it hard for someone to take my experience seriously. Ideally would like to work in-house as I have experience. I’ve interviewed with a few tech companies with global offices but nothing has progressed. Am now reluctantly sitting the bar. Any advice?

like

Fears of a layoff looming imminently. What is the market looking like these days? How long is it taking people to land new positions (specifically remote)?

like
like

Sorry for cross-post but is in-house a feasible exit option for attorneys with the federal government? Let me preface this by saying that this is super premature as I just got the tentative offer from the government for a position focusing on labor and employment litigation before the EEOC, but I wanted to plan ahead and see what my options were down the road if I'm looking for a bigger paycheck. I'm currently 13 YOE in private practice at mostly small/mid size firms.

like

Which books would you recommend for in house counsel about strategy, management, and leadership?

Asking as product counsel for tech startup.

like

Has anyone explained to management why employee losses and telling the remaining people to keep doing (much) more with less is not only a bad strategy, but creates more risk for the company? Did they listen?

like

Any idea of base pay for an Assoc legal counsel role at Adobe? (4+ yrs law firm exp.: IP/tech licensing; IP counseling and enforcement)

like

Is it possible to move in-house from Big Law as an associate and make more money? If not, what percentage pay cut is normal/worth it?

Anyone have any professional development/leadership books they’d recommend? Doesn’t have to be lawyer or in-house related specifically, just something you found helpful. I just finished Deep Work and found some aspects helpful, but others not applicable to in-house counsel life.

like

How long can you take to accept an offer? I received a forma offer today and have one more interview with another company for another position that I’m considering. I expect that the other company will let me know if they plan to make an offer by the end of the week. I am seriously considering both and want to give each a chance. Is a week acceptable to accept an offer?

like

Anybody at LVMH/subsidiary?

like

Those who have returned to a law firm from being in-house - what was your experience like? If you hated a firm the first time, was it better the second time around? I swore I’d never go back, but seeing the newest round of BigLaw raises and salary increases I am genuinely considering it - I’m getting married and planning for kids shortly, and would like to buy a home in our HCOL city, and while I’m not starving on my in-house salary and am fairly frugal, I don’t feel like we have much cushion.

like

Any insight into in-house gigs at studios/networks? Ie HBO, CBS, NBC etc? Pros and cons? Have applied for a few and have gotten some reciprocal interest but I don’t know any lawyers in this space. Most are for production attorney jobs. Thanks in advance for any insights! If you know anything specific about the above companies would also appreciate it.

like

I have an offer for ~$350k TC at a non-FAANG tech company. This seems quite a bit above market. Am I over thinking or is this a potential red flag for WLB? 4 YOE for reference.

like

I have 5 YOE in big law as an environmental attorney. I’m hoping to make a move in-house soon, but I don’t see in-house environmental positions come up very often. Any tips on what I should be looking for/where to look? I check Indeed constantly but so far I’ve only seen a handful of relevant positions.

like

Had two initial interviews for a litigation counsel job with two large companies in the last few weeks, got rejected by both companies…. I’m well qualified for one job (interviewed with the litigation group), a little under qualified for the other (interviewed with the HR). I have 5 YOE. Any suggestions for future job search/interview?

like

Currently looking to get some help for some in house doc review. I was wondering if anyone on this bowl has any experience with any contract lawyers like on axiom and flex legal? How are the quality and price to hire them? Thank you!

like