Legal.io

Sep 30, 2021

Community Perspectives: Do you regret leaving Big/Midlaw to go in-house?

In-house legal professionals share their thoughts on leaving Big/Midlaw positions to go in-house.

General Counsel and Director Responses:

Not once.
No, but I co-founded the company in which I went in-house. This is a bit of a different situation, but I haven’t regretted any of it!
The one thing I miss, sometimes, is going to court. I do it now and again these days, but not on the same level.
In-house is for when you want to retire.
I wouldn’t know. I've never even considered going to a firm.
Not at all. I rejoice everyday. The key is to go in-house with the RIGHT company for you, working with people you like and respect and who will respect you and your time.

Counsel Responses:

Nope, not once.
I have long work hours and limiting type of work in-house. I never had formal law firm experience, but working at an international company is definitely difficult when balancing your work hours.
Not for one second.
To counter the pure "nope"s in this thread, there are things to miss. Some will miss their coworkers, the action in the office, working with consistently smart people who understand the foundation of your work, and/or the salary potential. Honestly, I particularly miss my workmates and the paralegals, because you just don't see them as often as when you're purposefully in the same building as them. You'll always miss some aspects of a job you worked hard to get, but the transition out of it is worth it.
I miss my coworkers (a lot) and the collaboration, but that’s pretty much it.
Not really. Not having to bill and keep track of my hours have been the best thing ever. However, it is very different to be in the cost center, as opposed to being the revenue generator.
I only regret not leaving earlier.
I’ve been in-house for five years. Make sure before you start in-house the scope of the work is clear, and your hours (if that what matters to you). I work more than many of my friends in BigLaw and get paid about half as much. Also, the amount of time you will spend on stupid questions is mind-boggling. The business teams don’t have to worry about their budgets coming to you and might try to get you to literally do their work. I’m not saying this happens everywhere, but if you make the switch, be clear when you start. I don’t let business people come to me unless they’ve made an attempt to figure it out (unless it’s C-suite level). For reference, I work for a publicly-traded company with $4B+ AUM. Also, make sure the legal department isn’t too small that you're going to be swamped. Ask how work is divided and assigned and ask what is expected of you.
If salary is the focus, then law firm might be better fit right now. From my experience, how much you work/bill is directly and positively correlated to how much you earn in a law firm. This is not the case in-house. My experience at in-house tells me bonuses are usually discretionary (never guaranteed). RSU are nice, but usually tied with a 4 year cliff. My current boss (GC) actually told me not to work during weekend/off hours, because it wouldn’t be recognized by the top. Maybe there is a reason why you’re thinking of going in-house? Is it work load? Practice area? Or did it just sound cool to work for a tech company? :) There is a common misconception regarding work life as an in-house counsel. Depending on the operation of the company, which team you’d support, or when you get pulled into a project, you might not be able to log off and unplug at 6pm. Leverage what have now and don't rush into accepting until you feel comfortable with the situation. Spoiler Alert: if they describe the team or company as “family”, run. 😆

Attorney and Associate Responses:

Some things I’ve heard (I’m still at a firm) that they miss: lack of bureaucratic red tape, people punting their responsibilities (to a larger degree), clear job expectations, being the superstar of the firm instead of the naysayers to the business team, and the money.
Not at all — in my experience, the grass has been much greener in-house, so long as you don’t have aspirations to buy a second home and send your kids to private school. I have no regrets about leaving BigLaw, I just miss being in daily touch with some of my friends from my old BigLaw firm.
No, but people do. I’ve had coworkers and friends go back to firm life. If you regret it, you can go back. You don’t have to stay.
I didn't for the first few years but I do now. - I worked at an international company-- lots of 6am conference calls. Limited upward mobility. The salary was good ($220k, no bonus) but low compared to my class year in BigLaw, and I was working very, very long hours, less interesting work. When I got a new boss he usurped most of my counseling work and C-suite contacts. I'm interviewing now for BigLaw and in-house, and will see what I prefer. The equity was good and I vested a lot.
I worked in BigLaw and then went in-house. Then I went back to BigLaw and now I'm back in-house. They both have their pros and cons. I miss BigLaw right now since this GC keeps me out of the C-suite. My last in-house, I worked myself into all of the C-suite meetings. This was so rewarding and fun being part of management. This GC won't let me anywhere near those meetings, it's so frustrating.
Not enough to go back, haha!
I'm thinking about leaving but I'm am worried I'll shoot myself in the foot regarding salary. I am in AM50 M&A making $275+, and I would really only leave for an in-house position with $200k base and another $20-50k in bonus/equity/benefits (so $220-250k all in). Admittedly, I haven't done a ton of research, but I don't know how feasible that is (I know 4-5th year money is not realistic going in-house, but with $220k + my spouse' income, we are well into the $300k household income. This is lavish for the Midwest city we want to move to and would be more than happy). Work/life balance is really the key and the Midwest city we are targeting is much closer/easier to our family and friends from before law school. My wife and I have struggled to adjust to our current city and unfortunately, the Midwest city does not have a BigLaw presence. I'm also 30+ years old, and in a financially great spot (my wife and I have no debt; we save a ton and live well under our income); my practice is M&A, so corporate counsel positions at one of the F500 companies in our target city is what I am gunning for. I had a job for 2 years before law school, and I miss logging off at 5 and enjoying my weekends. I do expect there will be some long days and things past 5/6...but I'm just tired at the end of every single day. I miss going to trivia night on Tuesdays, I miss seeing my friends and my family back home. I'm lucky enough to be in a good financial spot where money isn't really going to be an issue (barring some catastrophe). I'm also not very ambitious, I think a job is a job and if I work my way to GC or CLO, then great! If not, I don't particularly care too much. So long as my wife and I are earning enough to support our modest lifestyle, then we are happy. BigLaw M&A is too stressful and quite frankly, meaningless and thankless work in the long run. It's a means to an end and a great way to build wealth and experience for 4-5 years but after that, it's a crap job. I foresee myself after 10ish years or so in-house, pivoting into teaching at the downtown business school or law school (I have previous teaching experience and my alma mater is pretty good at hiring professionals for $130k with the sort of previous experience and qualifications I have, since the salaries are publicly disclosed).
You lower your worth by going in-house too early. They consider firms to be much better training. But don’t wait until after the 8th year, either.
I had a friend who left his firm. He was in-house for not even nine months. He claimed to be bored and went back to his firm.
No chance in Hell. I left as a Senior Associate for a $250k/yr job. My hours dropped down to 9-5, and no weekend work. I don’t even look at my phone on the weekend anymore. Annual raises are ~$10k a year. (My compensation in-house is $250k. My old firm paid market. I’m commercial agreements.)
I wouldn’t trade my GC for an extra $50k raise. Having his support against the unreasonable departments is so important.
When I left BigLaw for in-house I regretted going in-house, not necessarily leaving BigLaw.
I didn’t regret it, but I did end up going back to BigLaw after approximately ten years. I left BigLaw after my third year and while I learned a lot in-house, I never really felt like an expert in my area of law and felt like my compensation had an upper-ceiling because of it. I ultimately decided to go back to BigLaw and don’t regret the decision to go back.

In-house? Join the conversation on Fishbowl (anonymous).

In-House Counsel Compensation Law Firms Career Mental Health Diversity and Inclusion

Welcome to Legal.io

Connect with peers, level up skills, and find jobs at the world's best in-house legal departments

Join Legal.io

Salary Insights

Explore All Salaries →

Associate Attorney

$245k • New York

Counsel

$380k • District of Columbia

Corporate Counsel

$176k • Illinois

Hire Talent

Learn more →

Commercial Counsel

Product Counsel

Legal Operations

See more

Template: Legal Billing Requirements

A template for outside law firm legal billing requirements, shared by an in-house member of the Legal.io community.

Legal Operations Law Firms

Eve AI Secures $14M Seed Round - Forecast of Things to Come in Legal AI

Eve AI has received funding of $14 million to develop a platform to automate discovery and research.

Technology In-House Counsel Business and Corporate

Allen & Overy Announces Legal AI Product - Harvey

The AI product will eventually become available to all A&O firms worldwide.

Technology Legal Software Law Firms

Tony West: Pioneering Transparency and Collaboration at Uber's Legal Department

What makes Tony West the winner of Corporate Counsel's Best General Counsel 2023? His focus on corporate culture.

General Counsel In-House Counsel Mental Health

Community Discussion: Can people transition from law firm directly to a general counsel role?

Legal professionals discuss the jump from big law into an in-house general counsel role

General Counsel In-House Counsel Career

Legal.io Newsletter - April 30, 2021

Published weekly on Friday, the Legal.io Newsletter covers the latest in legal, talent & tech.

Technology Legal Software Career

ACC Law Department Management Benchmarking Report

Despite the surge, legal counsel costs overall took up a smaller percentage of companies’ expenses, while in-house lawyers’ duties continued to broaden to reflect the business landscape’s current challenges.

Career Hiring

Change of H-1B Workplace Requires Amended Petition

H-1B holders working at multiple worksites must have a Labor Condition Application (LCA) on file for each worksite.

Immigration

The AI Art Debate: Can Machines Own Copyrights?

In a landmark decision, a Washington, D.C. federal judge has ruled that artwork produced by artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be copyrighted, primarily due to the absence of human authorship.

Technology