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Should a litigator switch to a corporate practice?
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 YES
The upside is that the hours are better as in-house
counsel, you have more control ver your workload, and there is
greater acceptance
for time spent with family. You also get away from some of the
nastiness inherent in litigation. But going to a corporate practice
isn’t Shangri-La. As a general counsel or associate general
counsel at a large corporation, you often work the same type
of hours as someone in private practice. In fact, many corporate
departments are set up like law firms, where different departments
within the company are considered “clients”, and
in-house counsel are required to bill and record how they spend
their time with their “clients”.
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 NO
The downside is that if you are a company’s sole attorney,
you lack the possibility of mentoring, and must rely on yourself
for guidance. In addition, your job may be to actually manage outside
counsel as opposed to doing the work yourself. And don’t
count on getting trial work. If anything, you’ll likely experience
a decrease, if not a complete lack of, in actual trial work. One
more thing: For companies that do not require you to bill your
time, an in-house lawyer working long hours has no record for the
purpose of year-end productivity bonuses common in law firms. |
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* Adapted from the following sources: New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, ABA Journal, National Law Journal, California Bar Journal,
New York Law Journal, Student Lawyer, JD Jungle, GPSolo.
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