What is an in-house lawyer?
In-house lawyers are directly
employed by the company they work for. They undertake the legal work and assist
with risk identification and management for the company. Often sitting
physically close to the CEO, COO and management team, in-house lawyers are
often expected to provide immediate or timely legal advice on a wide range of
issues. In-house lawyers will assist a wide range of teams within the company
including operations, human resources and marketing. While this blog post is
about private sector in-house opportunities, there are also public sector
in-house opportunities at both a state and Commonwealth level.
What is so good about working in-house?
1. Focus
on one client
Having only one client means that
in-house lawyers can build impressive client knowledge. Parts of the company
rely on in-house lawyers before they can progress, and being able to see the
impact of your work is satisfying. Client access to lawyers can cause
high-pressure environments, as in-house lawyers often have nowhere to hide as
they are physically close to their internal clients. However, working on the
commercial front line can be immensely rewarding, as the impact of your advice
can be seen.
2. Close
contact with the business side of the company
This close contact with the
company means in-house lawyers have a real influence on the business side of
the company. In-house lawyers are the legal part of a diversified wider
environment within the company. Working in-house is a great option for lawyers
who want to work with a wide range of non-legal professionals.
3. A
wide variety of legal work
While the General Counsel usually
specialises in advising the CEO, COO and management team and managing large
emergencies, a junior lawyer working in-house will be expected to help out in
all areas including litigation, debt recovery, employment and industrial relations,
competition law, and intellectual property. In-house lawyers must develop an
ability to advise on a wide range of areas, and this can be a welcome challenge
for some.
4. A
small team environment
Teams in-house are generally smaller than
specialist teams in law firms and offer the opportunity to work more closely
with colleagues.
5. Independence
and self-reliance
In-house lawyers are generally very
busy trying to keep on top of the regulatory requirements of the company and
their usual case load from internal clients. As a junior lawyer you will
receive supervision, but will be required to be much more autonomous than if
you were working at a law firm. This is great for building self-confidence and
the ability to problem solve.
6. Rewarding
to see outcomes of your work
Being able to see the outcome
when problems are resolved with your legal input can be very positive and lead
to high work satisfaction. In law firms you can miss out on this key step, as
outcomes are reported to you second or third hand through your supervising
Partner. Those working in-house have also reported higher feelings of
collaboration that come with working intensely with internal clients to achieve
common company goals.
7. Involvement
in legal issues from an early stage
Law firms often only become
involved in legal issues at a late stage. Working in-house, you can be involved
in the legal process from the very beginning of an internal legal inquiry to
the end.
8. Requires
forward thinking and creativity
With the increased focus on risk
management, in-house lawyers will be expected to foresee certain legal problems
and assist to stop them before it happens. Forward thinking and creative
thinking are encouraged.
Watch out for:
1. Conflict
between your duty to your employer and your duty as a lawyer
It is possible that while working
in-house there can be a conflict between your duty to your employer and your
duty as a lawyer. Rule 4.1.4 of the NSW
Professional Conduct and Practice Rules 2013 provides that “A solicitor
must also:...avoid any compromise to their integrity and professional independence”.
In the event of a conflict between a duty to the employer and a duty as a
lawyer, the duty you have as a lawyer must prevail.
2. Legal
professional privilege
For legal professional privilege to
apply to communications, an in-house lawyer must have been acting in their
capacity as legal advisers. Keep this in mind if you are starting in an
in-house role, as at times you may be asked to work on matters that could be
better described as business matters rather than legal matters. Legal
professional privilege may not apply to these communications unless specific
steps are taken.
Debunking the myths:
Myth 1: Working in-house is less
work than working at a law firm
While the nature of the work you
are doing may vary, most in-house lawyers work just as hard or harder than lawyers
at law firms. Working in-house is definitely not the softer or easier option.
Myth 2: Working in-house will
give you better access to life outside of work
Working in-house will not
necessarily give you better work/life balance than working at a law firm.
Work/life balance varies between different in-house teams as much as it does between
different law firms and practice groups.
But are there in-house positions for law graduates?
Traditional in-house teams are headed
by a General Counsel who has 20+ years of experience and is usually ex-top tier
where they were Managing Partner for 10 years before moving in-house. The rest
of a typical in-house team is made up of experienced lawyers who spent time
working at a law firm before moving in-house. These more experienced lawyers
are usually poached from panel law firms. Traditionally there were no real
roles for law graduates or junior lawyers in-house.
This has now changed due to two
trends:
1. The
increasing size of in-house teams. There has been a trend to increasing the
size of in-house teams as the regulatory load on companies has become more
complex and there has been an increase focus on risk and liability; and
2. The
increasing budgetary constraints on in-house teams. Post GFC, companies have
tightened budgets in most departments including the legal budget. In-house
teams have become more selective when briefing panel law firms and do more of
the legal work themselves. They are also more likely to brief barristers
directly in litigation matters. This has led to in-house teams needing to do
more “ground-work” and has led to an increased need for junior lawyers and law
graduates in in-house teams.
In-house opportunities do exist
for law graduates. You just have to be vigilant in finding the opportunities.
Unlike graduate recruitment for law firms that happens in March/April annually,
in-house opportunities are advertised whenever the company has a need. Companies
as diverse as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Metroll Group, David Jones,
and Lend Lease have all recruited in-house junior lawyers or graduate lawyers
this year. Due to the competitive nature of these positions, recruiters usually
expect their graduates to be admitted and have prior legal experience. If you
are thinking of applying for an in-house role, be sure to regularly check Lawyers
Weekly jobs, Linked In jobs, as well as Seek and other general recruitment
websites for openings. Good luck!
Thanks for the wonderful blog.David Dribbin & Michael Brown have a combined experience in excess of 40 years.
ReplyDeleteThey direct an enthusiastic team of lawyers from their Geelong office that regularly attend the Geelong Magistrates Court.
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