How to Get a Job as In House Counsel

 I've been working as in-house counsel for over ten years but I didn't slide into this role easily. For many corporate lawyers, becoming in-house counsel is that elusive dream. It's a cushy role with lots of perks (especially when you work for a FAANG company). I don't work at a FAANG company but I still enjoy the benefits of working as in-house counsel-- the workload highs and lows while not being beholden to the billable hour. You actually get downtime and time for your family working in-house. Of course, at the end of quarter, my deal load is nuts and I don't even get the winter holidays off. 

If this sounds like something you'd want to be a part of, then the question you may be asking yourself is "how do I become in-house counsel?" Landing a job as in-house counsel isn't as easy as it appears. There are a few hitches. Unlike law firms, in-house employers aren't looking for entry level graduates. Quite often, they're seeking seasoned ex-law firm lawyers. So, in order to go in-house, you have to do your time with the billables at a reputable law firm. 

The Law Firm Way

The first way to land a job as in-house counsel is to start at a law firm and then transition to in-house. Like I told a prospective law student, the journey doesn't end upon law school admittance. You need to kill it in law school and graduate in the top third of your class in order to even be considered by the good law firms. FAANG typically hires out of the top law firms so it's pretty important to end up at an AmLaw200 firm. Once you have your foot in, there are two traditional ways to go in-house. The first is to represent a corporate client and do a secondment within that client. That's when the firm loans you out to the company. While this might not land you a job right away at that client, it serves two purposes-- one is to build contacts within the in-house landscape and the second is to build your resume so that you have in-house experience when you decide to apply to companies. 

The Internship Way

This strategy to land an in-house legal role is less likely but I've seen it done. If you can leverage your contacts and land a role as an intern within a company, then you will be able to gain that valuable experience you need in order to land a role as in-house counsel. Most in-house employers are looking for someone who has a level of in-house experience. Internships are a great way to gain that experience. If you can gain that internship through your law school's career center, that's usually the best place to start. 

The Contract Manager Way

This is a slightly less desirable way to become in-house counsel but it's been done by the crafty and resourceful types. Essentially, many contracts manager roles are looking for someone with a JD but perhaps who hasn't passed the bar exam. These roles are a great place to park while you write the bar exams. They provide you with valuable in-house contract negotiation experience which leads to commercial counsel roles. The drawback here is that in many cases, contracts managers are seen as paralegals and for many lawyers, the P word is a setback in their careers. Of course, even if the role is technically titled as a "paralegal", there's no need to be that prescriptive on your CV. After all, if they call you a contracts manager, that's what you are, even if it's a paraprofessional role. And frankly, many in-house legal departments favor the contract manager trajectory over the BigLaw trajectory when it comes to hiring a commercial counsel.

Which way works best? 

From experience, most of the in-house lawyers I know have come from either the law firm route or the contract manager path. I work as a commercial counsel and I've seen many aspiring counsel work in the trenches as contracts managers or even as paralegals after they've passed the bar and after they've worked at small firms. It's not for the faint of ego, however!

The Mommy-Track for Lawyers: 5 Career Options

Mothers' Day is creeping up on us again and it's always a good time to talk about work issues for lawyer moms looking to re-enter the legal workforce.

After taking a break to raise kids, it won't come as a surprise to you that many legal employers can be unforgiving. To some degree, that's the nature of the legal profession. It's built in the billable hour and when you're raising a family, the billable hour is a demand that can be very hard to juggle. 

I'm an advocate of mommy-tracking your way back. Not all will agree with me, but it's a soft way to ease back in to the market without dealing with the pressures and expectations of the work world. 

The great thing about mommy-tracking is that you can work an easier job when the kids are small, and you never have a huge gap to explain. Then, as your kids get older, you can slowly move up to more challenging roles. 

Some examples of great mommy-tracked legal jobs:

1. The legal writer. I spent a large part of my mommy-tracked career at Findlaw.com. Of course, you'd have to live in Silicon Valley to work there, but their two-day-work-from-home policy was great and they had a solid 40-hours-a-week schedule. There are many legal writer and legal blogger jobs available and some will let you work entirely from home. 

Pros: Great flexibility. 

Cons: Low pay. Most jobs pay $20-30 an hour. 

2. The ghost writer for briefs.  There are many small litigation shops out there that are in need of a "behind the scenes" writer for legal briefs. It's hard work and not everyone has appellate brief experience. If you've been an appellate attorney in the past, then consider attending a few legal networking events and get to know litigators. You can easily charge $50-$150 per hour to draft these briefs.

Pros: Great flexibility, decent pay.

Cons: No stable income. You have to network and constantly find your next source of income. 

3. The contract manager.   In house legal departments are a beast of their own. While some believe that the in-house world is an amnesty for working parents, it's not always so and if you're negotiating sales contracts, don't expect to get the winter or Labor Day weekend off. But a contracts manager isn't on the hook as bad as the in-house attorney is and it's a great 9-5 job if you're buying your time before becoming in-house counsel. Here's the caveat, however: Don't expect that you'll be promoted to counsel at your current job. You'd likely have to apply to a different company as most companies won't promote their contract managers to "counsel". 

Pros: Great pay, great exposure to in-house legal

Cons: Don't expect to be promoted to "Counsel". 

4. The contract attorney. There are many great managed services out there that provide offsite lawyers into Fortune 500 companies. Many Silicon Valley companies are moving towards the managed-services model, where the are doing legal process outsourcing. You'd negotiate contracts and perform legal services from the comfort of your own home. Managed service providers include Axiom, Paragon, Elevate Services, and Flex by Fenwick. 

Pros: Great pay, great flexibility.

Cons: You can go large periods of time without an assignment. 

5. Your own practice. Many lawyer moms start their own shop. For some, it's a great fit. For others, it's not what they want. Having done it, I realized early that this wasn't what I wanted to do. I was always a corporate person who wanted to be in-house. But I have friends who swear by this-- from a financial standpoint and from a flexibility standpoint. 

Pros: You make your own hours, sense of accomplishment.

Cons: You eat what you kill-- no stability. Also, it can be a lot of work. 

5 Tips For Pregnant Lawyers

I'm a mommy lawyer. And I worked while pregnant. I've got two kids under the age of 8 and I currently work in house at a company with over $1 billion in revenue. 

I wrote and passed the California bar exam when I was 8 months pregnant. I also worked at a large law firm, and then subsequently at a major legal publisher while I was in my second pregnancy. 

Pregnancy is hard. I'm not trying to rub salt in the wounds of those women who are pregnant and working as lawyers. I did it, but it was brutal. (Read my lament here.)

But having done it, Here are my 5 tips to being pregnant while working.

1. Disclose your pregnancy. Many women are scared to tell their employer that they are pregnant. I actually told a law firm in the interview and they still hired me, so the stigma isn't as bad as many believe it is. While it's not wise to tell your boss before the sixth month, pregnancy can mess with your brain, so you might want your workplace to be more understanding of any minor errors that you do, as a result of brain-fog.  The other added benefit of telling your boss is that the law protects you from adverse employment actions (i.e. getting fired or demoted) if you are pregnant. 

2. Use disability benefits for pregnancy. There are many benefits afforded to people who are pregnant. I was able to take the bar exam in a private hotel room with food, a private bathroom, and a pillow in my lap. If your pregnancy is particularly bad, you should even consider taking a paid leave. In many states, your job is protected. 

3. Work from home. Many transactional law jobs will allow you to work from home. If you're doing predominately research or redlining contracts, you can get away with working from home. I was working at a large international publishing house for the latter half of my pregnancy and they let me work from home four days a week. 

4. Get your sleep. After you come home from work, make sure you sleep well. I used to go to bed at 7 P.M. If you have other kids, this might be challenging but if you have a supportive spouse, you need to call on that support now. 

READ: Working Parents, Don't be Ashamed to Ask For Help (Attorney Diaries)

5. Eat well. If you're throwing up every meal, it might be hard to eat well when you are pregnant. But you need the energy and the nutrition. Keep some healthy snacks with you, such as fruit and yogurt. 

Many women work in law firms while pregnant. From time to time, you will run into difficult employers or people who don't understand. And yes, you might get labeled as the "mommy" (I actually won a gag award from a well-intentioned female boss called the "'Heck yeah I can make my numbers even with a crying baby' Award".)  

But in the big picture, you'll come out on top.