I’m a 5th year associate in big law. I’ve always kept partnership in mind as an option, but last year I spent some time thinking about the future of my career and think I may want to go in-house (although I haven’t completely ruled out partnership). What should I be focusing my time on in the next couple of years? For IH counsel who transitioned from big law, what are some things you wish you had done before leaving big law? And where should I look to get a feel for the types of jobs out there?

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Posting as :
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Goinhouse.com

Steal precedents

Look on LinkedIn.

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Finding an in house spot can be fairly easy if you’re mainly transactional (or tax, I’ve heard). Often you can move in house to one of your existing clients. But it can be very very hard in other areas, particularly litigation. I suggest you start searching the in house listings immediately and speak to one or more recruiters, and as best you can control, focus your work in those areas. If you’re in litigation, for example, and in a smaller market, basically zero small companies hire in house litigators. So you need to come up with a game plan. It doesn’t matter that any lawyer can learn any other area of law, if you’ve been litigating for 5 years everyone will think you are incapable of learning, for example, regulatory filings. (It’s ridiculous - rant over).

The hunt can take years so start soon but don’t panic, give yourself time to explore the market (which is now - once you hit 6th-8th year you will probably start feeling the “up or out” pressure from your firm).

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Following.

A2 I am in litigation and ultimately want to move in house. I do a fair amount of L&E work but I am a second year. Should I jump ship since I am in litigation as the primary practice area and want to be in house? I don’t want to make things more difficult for myself down the line.

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