Community Perspectives: What is your experience working remotely in-house?

In-house legal professionals discuss their experience working remotely.

(Author) Counsel

Anyone fully remote as in-house counsel? What’s it like? Are you comfortable sharing your company name? I am one year away from being 40. I’ve never had so much happiness with respect to work as I do on the days I can work remotely. I am truly more productive, happier, and excited about my job. I don’t actually enjoy socializing as I’m very introverted and it just feels like so much work for me to do that. I like to think of it as preserving my additional time to teach myself more about other areas of law and exercising.

Asking for purely informational purposes and also because it sounds like a dream!

General Counsel Responses:

I’m mid-forties and 100% work from home with a day trip from Boston to NYC every 6-8 weeks. And I do mean day trip - I take the Acela down and back the same day. I started during COVID like so many others and any future role requiring more than periodic in-office would have to be a dream opportunity. I do realize that I benefited from primarily in-office work while in private practice and early in-house.
I’m 98% remote, but know some of our attorneys who are fully remote. It’s case-by-case though, and I haven’t heard of anyone being hired into a fully remote role. I love being mostly remote!!
I am 100% remote.You can direct message me for the company if you’re interested. I moved back to my hometown -- I am in investments and most companies are back east. I have two little kids and I have enjoyed how much more time I can spend with them. I might have a different view on working from home once they are in school, but for now I love it.
I am mostly remote.

Counsel Responses:

I am fully remote at a tech startup. Though I’ve loved being fully remote, I’m expecting to travel to certain areas where we have more employees once per quarter. There is just something about in-person interaction that can help push things forward. Especially for my sales teams; it's important (they’re crying out for it), so I’ll go and give them face time. In my day to day though, I love remote work, and it is 100% out there.
I am fully remote at a tech company. Almost the entire company is, with folks in various countries/time zones. I’m still a relatively young attorney (mid-30s) and could maybe benefit from increased interaction with senior attorneys if I had some, but that not being the case, it works great for me. The great advantage is the flexibility (no commute, can accommodate your schedule for the most part, etc.). The one downside IS ALSO the flexibility (you may end up working more/odd hours). All in all, I will likely never go back to in-office roles.
I am! I enjoy it although I do miss having the ability to go into the office if I wanted to. I have the autonomy as well as the mentorship, so I certainly enjoy all aspects of it.
I am! It’s perfect for me but I am 40. I benefited from in-office work for the first 13 years of my career. Once work from home during Covid happened, I never wanted to work in-office again and was able to find a full-time remote job! But the skills I gained from my early career and exposure in-person helped me land this role.
We are on a hybrid model now :( with mandatory assigned days in office. I am actively looking for a remote position and I have an interview next week.
I’m a couple years behind a few of these people commenting, but in a similar situation and completely agree. I wouldn’t be the person or lawyer I am today without spending a lot of time around offices earlier in my career, but now I’m 95% remote and it’s great.
Oracle is fully remote for attorneys at this point unless you want an office. I highly recommend it.
There are pros and cons. I do miss the socializing and happy hours, but don’t think I could actually go back. There are too many lifestyle benefits to being mostly remote.
Our team occasionally goes to the office once every few months for special meetings but we are 100% remote. Most of the team I support is located in different parts of the world. I love it! I’m not wasting time on a commute and have much more productivity at home. And I save so much more on food expenses and coffee.
I am fully remote at a tech company someone mentioned already. I absolutely love what I do and my team. The flexibility and respect for your time are great. You can take breaks for a quick run in the middle of the day. I don't worry about what to wear. Mornings are not as manic as before when trying to get the kids out the door, and heading to work at the same time. I don't ever want to have to go into an office full-time.
I like it a lot for the flexibility, although I am still early in my career and could honestly probably benefit from being in-office with other attorneys.
I am totally remote and love it. I choose to go into a WeWork once a month or so to meet with various teams and people but it’s not a requirement. I’m also crazy efficient, so not being stuck in an office all day, required to just show face, has been a huge life/stress improvement.
I am 100% remote with the option to go into the office whenever I want. We have one day that has become the “in” day for most people who come in at all, so I go in on that day if I need some adult interaction. It would take a big jump in salary for me to agree to go into an office more than 1-2 days a week. Particularly when things are slow, I enjoy the freedom to go on walks, catch up on tv, or read in my sweats.
I also work fully from home at a tech company. I absolutely love it. I could go to the office if I wanted, but it’s an hour away so I never do. It’s a global company and the people I deal with are around the world and not in my location anyway so it’d be video meetings anyway. Even in the legal team, my boss is in the US and I’m in the EU, so I wouldn’t see him even if I went to the office.
I am technically not fully remote, but I haven’t been to my office in 2.5 years. I work in finance on a team based in NY but I live in Boston so I’ll be remote even if I go back to the office. It took time to adjust but at this point Zoom and phone calls are as easy as in-person meetings. Plus there are less distractions when I’m at home and don’t have people to talk to unless I need/want to.
I work from home about 99% of the time. (I still have a physical office, but I’m not required to go in.). My stress levels have been reduced dramatically, and I get to use vacation time for real vacations as opposed to using it to visit family and friends who live out of state. Work from home has been a total game changer for me.
I work in Fintech and am fully remote. It helps that the company is fully remote and most employees are spread out. Mileage can vary for in-house counsel (even within a company), but I find there is more flexibility being remote. I am also able to limit the number of ambushes by business dropping by for quick legal advice. I like that I can see the questions coming.
Renewable energy projects lawyer here. I am fully remote and pretty much our whole company is remote. I legitimately don't see any benefit to the days I do travel to the office. I'm never going back to a role where in-office is expected. If you are part of a dialed-in team that knows how to communicate, remote is so much more efficient.
Litigation is almost certainly not the way to get there, I'd think. If I were trying to break into the industry, I'd join trade groups, network with others in the field, and try to build a practice that could support the industry in some niche (i.e., project development/real estate, M&A, permitting, regulatory, corporate, etc.). Renewables are their own beast, with tax equity driving so much of the industry. Being able to understand the impact and implications of tax equity on projects is key. The industry is growing rapidly, so there is plenty of room for talented, passionate folks.
I am remote! I love it! We have weekly legal team meetings and 1:1s with each team member every week. So I still get the interactions and when things are slow, I can do laundry.
Two themes in this thread I really agree with: the remote experience can depend a lot on (1) where you are in your career and (2) whether your whole team is remote. I think remote work is best when you’re at least a few years into your career and most of the people you work with are also remote. Obviously it can be good for people in other situations, but that seems to be the optimal conditions.
My company has always been fully remote for 20+ years. I really like it because we were built and our culture was all made for remote work. That’s different IMO to the companies playing catch-up during Covid to adapt to remote. I can’t ask for better. Being remote is truly as awesome as I hoped. Sometimes I do miss having more social interactions, but I’ve just leaned into doing that more during the week with friends and other social groups. I can’t beat the flexibility I have now and it’d be unlikely I could ever go back into a hybrid model. Going in every day to an office is not even a consideration.
I don’t know how the privacy works on this app so I won’t share my company name but I’m at a recently public tech company. I’ve been remote since before the pandemic. Working remotely beats being required to go into an office; however, I wish I had the option to go into an office. I do miss spending time with coworkers.
I was fully remote during the pandemic and hybrid now by choice. I personally prefer the hybrid model because there can be some benefits to the office environment, but I have control over which days I go in.
I have been fully remote for years. Was at a mid size tech company for 5 years and now at one of the big 4 consulting companies. My last role only had a yearly sales kickoff where I would meet colleagues but my current company has given me 4 opportunities to meet the team in person in just 5 months. I love being remote. My main motivation for staying remote initially was a move to a new city and then I started a family. While I’ve always had my kids in daycare, I love that I don’t spend hours commuting everyday. My in-person meetings are mostly fun and a way to bond with my team. I love the flexibility.
Our in-house legal team is in a hybrid model and headquartered in California. However, I was hired to be 100% remote in Georgia. Many of my colleagues go into the office 1-2 days a week on the West Coast, but I do not. I make quarterly trips to the west coast that range from 2-5 days (with travel) and work from home the rest of the time. There is an office about an hour away from my home, but I’m not expected to report there unless there is an actual business necessity. So far, that’s been 2 times in 5 months. My first day to get equipment and one in-person lunch with a business unit I support. I’ve been in this role since the first quarter of 2022 and I never intend to go back to any office full-time. The definition of any dream job has shifted substantially now to include fully or mostly remote work.

Attorney and Associate Responses:

I am and it’s amazing! I just feel like I’m so much more comfortable. I can get things done at the house and it definitely makes work more enjoyable. I don’t think I could ever go back into the office.
I’ll never go back to the office but I do miss social interactions a bit. I love being able to sleep more, exercise, not wasting time commuting or getting ready each morning.
I switched from private practice to an in-house counsel role a few months back. The position has turned fully remote, and, if I’m being honest, has made company integration a bit challenging.
So many of these excellent-looking counsel positions for renewables are remote but when I see “posted 3 days ago - 140 applicants” I get super discouraged. I did 3 years of land / oil and gas acquisition projects prior to finishing law school and then I joined a regional firm advising natural gas companies for about 3 years after that. I’m doing commercial and real estate litigation now. My views are aligned with renewables but I worry my past doesn’t demonstrate that clearly enough. I would love to break in.
I am currently at a global consulting company. I have the option to be fully remote but can go into the office anytime I want. Lawyers are dispersed so I rarely make the trip. I was 95% remote at my last company too, so it now seems normal. My old colleagues and I would joke about what kind of salary bump it would take for us to ever go back to a fully in-person role. It’s a lot easier when everyone is remote.
Amazing!! I just started last Monday and wouldn’t imagine any other way.
I am fully remote at Meta.
I just landed a fully remote in-house gig. Unlike the above discussions, I’m early in my career (only 4 years of experience). But I had several jobs before law so I’ve done the office thing and I don't miss it. The pandemic changed everything. Working from home is so clutch.