In-House Counsel

The Jabbing-A-Toothpick-Into-Your-Eye Method Of Picking A Job

Should you work at a law firm, as opposed to a corporation? That depends.

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I’ve written before about why it makes sense to be a lawyer:  It’s an intellectual feast; there’s an ever-changing set of issues and cast of characters; you experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

So you could pick a job based on the things you would like about the job.

But how about the reverse?

Think about the things that you would hate most about a job — the things that would make you want to jab a toothpick into your eye.  Gather those negatives in a heap on a scale, and then pick a job to avoid the jabbing.

Here’s how you’d pick a job if you wanted to avoid that jabbing-a-toothpick-into-your-eye feeling.

Should you work at a law firm, as opposed to a corporation?

That depends.

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Do you like recording your time?  Or does the very thought of recording your time every day cause you to want to jab a toothpick into your eye?  If you quiver at the idea of recording time, you know there’s one aspect of practicing law at a firm that you won’t like.

How do you feel about irrelevant discovery disputes?  If you prefer not to deal with them, then you prefer not to work at a firm.

How do you feel about quibbling over whether the deposition next week will be in Houston or Dallas?  

Negotiating over the search terms that you’ll use to collect electronic documents?

Life, of course, evolves over time.  So, later in life:

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How do you feel about preparing bills?  If you just started to quiver, a law firm might not be for you.

How do you feel about running conflict checks?

How do you feel about the prospect of generating business?

(Not all of those things are necessarily negatives, of course.  Some folks thrill at the idea of generating business; others tremble at it.  Where does it go on your personal scale?)

Gather those things together, weigh them against the positives of a job, and then decide whether life at a law firm is for you.

But what about the other side of the coin?  Should you work in-house?

That depends.

Do you like the idea of setting annual goals for yourself and those who work under your supervision?  If you can feel your eyeballs getting bloody, in-house work may not be for you.

How about having regular one-on-one meetings with those you supervise?

Having regular one-on-one meetings with the person who supervises you?

Having team meetings to keep everyone abreast of what’s going on in the department?

And, of course, reviewing bills:  Not sending them out; making sure that you should pay them.  If that sounds a little tedious, maybe in-house work isn’t right for you.

Some people, of course, think the idea of having regular one-on-one meetings, for example, is a good one.  You’re assured time with your boss.  You can pause and think about your long-term career goals.  You can reflect generally on whether you’re happy with where you stand professionally.

Other people tremble at the thought of regular meetings:  “I went to law school to practice law!  Why am I wasting my time chatting with people about touchy-feely stuff?  Let’s get back to analyzing cases, thinking about strategies, and drafting outlines of testimony and arguments!”

Of course you should think about the good parts of a job.

But maybe you should also consider what you’ll be doing on the days you’ll dread the most.

And, of course, if it all sounds too grim to bear, there’s always medical school.

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

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