Serving One Client

In-house work provides a well-rounded legal experience.

I am not sure what I agreed to, or what button I selected, but yesterday Linkedin sent network invitations to seemingly everyone on the planet with whom I have ever corresponded by email. For the past two days I have received numerous invite acceptances; my once small network is now seemingly unmanageable in scope. However, some really great news has accompanied many emails. Several people with whom I have spoken over the years have written to update me on their job hunting – and the news has been universally good. I have always held the identities of those who have written in confidence, and I will continue that practice. But, I can comfortably report that jobs have been attained in government work, private practice, and in-house. The economy is tough, and hiring prospects are not back to mid-90s levels, but there are positions to be had, and to the most tenacious go the spoils.

I have never held myself out as a guru of job hunting, but I will always take time to respond to those who request advice. I am always pleased for those who write to tell me of their successes — it has become a primary reason behind this column. In school, or even in the first years of practice, no one sits you down and tells you the facts of life regarding the legal profession. For three years you become caught up in a whirlwind of studying and working whatever jobs you can find. Sadly, the really important stuff, like how to actually practice law, and how to build a career based on that practice, simply doesn’t come up. It should be apparent that this column is not for those with top ten credentials, or those with solid positions in top firms. Those of you described thusly are to be congratulated. I would posit that the vast majority of legal professionals, however, are looking for work, or feeling adrift, floating upon waves of mundane tasks and questioning their choice to become lawyers. Look, a job is a job, and lawyering is no different. It can be stimulating at times, but the day to day itself, can be quite a drudge.

Once you have mastered your job, writing yet another motion asking a court to order that your adversary turn over a document (a lousy piece of paper), or appear at a deposition on a date certain, can turn quickly into malaise. I know that it did for me, and that is why I jumped at the opportunity to work in a completely different field of work, in-house.

I haven’t touched on this recently, but the aspect of in-house work that holds the strongest appeal for me is that I serve one client — the company. The fortune of my corporation is shared by our department in good times and bad. Maybe not the spoils, but the share price to be sure. Likewise, the work that we do can directly impact the bottom line. As an attorney who services a large and diverse sales population, my role is to assist in bringing deals to a close. “Always be closing.” After riding a straight shot learning curve for a year or two, a comfort level that comes with experience begins to appear. And the position can either become yet another “job”, or you can work to keep things fresh. You can seek out different tasks in other departments, or you can simply learn other lines of business. But the challenge of keeping things interesting should not be ignored.

I understand that the apparent ease of my job, once mastered, is in the minority as far as in-house gigs. The majority of in-house readers of this column are working their tails off to keep up with complex compliance regulations as well as changing privacy rules, and oh yes, managing outside counsel and internal HR issues. I have always stated publicly that small in-house departments are the closest one can come to a real “well-rounded” legal experience. There is nothing quite like it in our profession. You likely report directly to the CEO, or others in the C-suite, and the responsibility for legal actions rests squarely on your shoulders. Pressure? What pressure? I kid, of course, because when the weight of legal decision-making rests on your shoulders alone, you can feel an isolation like no other. The same goes for the adrenal rush when a decision not only turns out to be correct, but the company benefits from your work. Moments like those, though rare, make all of the education, job-seeking and drudgery more than worth the while. It is one reason that I so envy medical professionals. If only I could stand the sight of blood and other fluids, I believe that saving lives on a day to day basis must be so much more rewarding than winning an oral argument. But hey, it’s also just a job, right?

Best wishes to those of you heading back to school, or to newly minted jobs in Biglaw.

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And for anyone about to tackle the challenge of in-house work, I will leave you with two pieces of advice — know when to pull the trigger (especially when you think you’re not quite ready), and know when to say “I don’t know” (often).


After two federal clerkships and several years as a litigator in law firms, David Mowry is happily ensconced as an in-house lawyer at a major technology company. He specializes in commercial leasing transactions, only sometimes misses litigation, and never regrets leaving firm life. You can reach him by email at dmowry00@gmail.com.

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