I don't know if this is the imposter syndrome talking, but as in house, I feel like I rarely *do* anything. I answer questions as they come up, review maybe 1-2 contracts a day, and manage a few litigation cases (primarily handled by outside counsel). Compared to my 300+ emails from clients a day that I would receive from my large firm job, I feel like I'm missing something? I'm the only attorney at my small company. I don't know if the workload at my previous firm skewed my perception.

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

This is what normal jobs are like. You have trauma from big law

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Gee thanks.

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I feel exactly the same way. It makes me worry that all my skills are going to atrophy. Sometimes I consider going back to a firm…but then I get emails from outside counsel at midnight and change my mind.

likefunnysmart

Had to double check—I thought I typed this response.

likefunny

You need to start developing initiative. Think about all the stuff you could be helping with. Does your company have bad debt to chase? Does legal have a place in insurance renewals? Ever audit the underwriting to see what you’re actually insured for? What about compliance? Who is handling employment law? Does your hr department know what a reasonable accommodation even is? I could go on. In house is far more chill than law firms, usually, but your ability to thrive will correlate to your ability to market importance and broad skills.

likesmarthelpful

PC2 partially but ECVC opposing parties are aligned enough where form documents can work. Not quite the case in M&A.

Omg, thanks for posting. I’m feeling the same way but not technically their in house counsel. But same here. Thinking if this is making me lag behind my peers. Do I need to keep learning when I’m not busy? Etc.

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I’d be worried that the business doesn’t know when to involve legal.

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Does your company have an opening?

likefunny

I think it’s a combination, having spoken to a lot of more senior attorneys when I first switched over. It made me so anxious to not be doing something all the time, because I learned at a firm that any moment I spent not working was $. But I was told that feeling is super normal.

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I’m in house and I’m super busy. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Yup. Me too. I’m a busy little bee and my emails and calendar are full, on top of managing external counsel who is supporting us. I’m really enjoying my time here compared to firm life, but I am by no means slow haha

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Enjoy this! This shouldn’t be a concern this should be something to celebrate

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This is the whole point of going in-house. Easy money for minimal work. Enjoy it!

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“Minimal work” = normal corporate job

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I am just a clerk in an in house role and I have never been in corporate before. The deliberate corporate churn and time wasting is astonishing. And the three hour lunches that everyone seems to take. I had to be told to chill out. So now I do yoga between drafting contracts 😂

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