Graduated last week. Nothing lined up yet.
Are there any entry-level in-house positions? An option for new grads? As far as I know, the vast majority of in-house positions require several years' experience at a major law firm.
Any in-house positions open to new grads? Forum
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Anonymous User
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albanach
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Re: Any in-house positions open to new grads?
You don't say much (anything) about what you're looking for. In-house is much broader than firms.Anonymous User wrote:Graduated last week. Nothing lined up yet.
Are there any entry-level in-house positions? An option for new grads? As far as I know, the vast majority of in-house positions require several years' experience at a major law firm.
You're correct though, in that new grad -> in house is the exception, and you should focus on finding a firm position unless you have some unusual background that leads you to think a corporation might be interested in hiring you. So, if you have startup experience in the tech sector, a startup might be interested, if you were in healthcare administration, a hospital might be interested in their legal or compliance departments, if you have HR experience, that could open doors. But all of these will still be exceptional.
Hound your school's career services while also networking and doing whatever you can to find a job. If necessary, look for insurance defense work and read the several posts on this site about how people have successfully transitioned from there to midlaw/biglaw.
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Aeroplane
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Re: Any in-house positions open to new grads?
Are you flexible on location? While in-house positions typically want people with some experience, there are certain companies that have a practice of regularly hiring new graduates, but they may be headquartered in some random places. Procter & Gamble is one. Ask your career office or Google about others.
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pleapeddler
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Re: Any in-house positions open to new grads?
Your law school's OCR will tell you that there aren't in house positions available, but if you have (a) business, accounting, finance, or sector-specific experience or aptitude (engineering, construction, trade, healthcare, sales, whatever the industry is) or (b) are mobile in terms of location and/or willing to start at a low pay grade and work your way up, then there certainly are in house positions, and far more than there used to be. Even for new grads.
The traditional tenor of "you have to have started at a firm" has not been accurate in my experience, but perhaps others still experience this in certain sectors. Of the three in house gigs I've had, only one of my bosses had firm experience at all.
The question becomes whether you can really cut it in house. If you're fine not truly practicing and have a potential talent for business/operations, in house life can be great. But I know plenty of in house attorneys who are unhappy and unsuccessful in house who were doing very well at their firms before they left. Just because you're a great attorney does not mean you will be a great in house attorney.
The traditional tenor of "you have to have started at a firm" has not been accurate in my experience, but perhaps others still experience this in certain sectors. Of the three in house gigs I've had, only one of my bosses had firm experience at all.
The question becomes whether you can really cut it in house. If you're fine not truly practicing and have a potential talent for business/operations, in house life can be great. But I know plenty of in house attorneys who are unhappy and unsuccessful in house who were doing very well at their firms before they left. Just because you're a great attorney does not mean you will be a great in house attorney.
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shock259
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Re: Any in-house positions open to new grads?
I'd be wary of any of these positions. Working in a law firm for a few years is really helpful for your development. If you are in house, you're just not going to get the same foundation legal skills that are going to help you further down the line in your career.
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albanach
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Re: Any in-house positions open to new grads?
It's right to be wary. I say that as someone who went straight in-house.shock259 wrote:I'd be wary of any of these positions. Working in a law firm for a few years is really helpful for your development. If you are in house, you're just not going to get the same foundation legal skills that are going to help you further down the line in your career.
It's not true that you definitely won't get the same foundational skills, but it is true that you should be enquiring about how the firm will train you to acquire those skills. I'm in a decently sized in-house department with circa 30 attorneys. We operate practice groups and have good training and supervision from senior attorneys while simultaneously letting new attorneys work on significant matters. So you can get direct client access and own transactions that go from small dollars into seven figures knowing that there's experience to help you when you need it.
So if you're looking at an in-house gig, I'd be asking questions about skill development alongside making clear you consider yourself ready to come in and work with clients on deals from day 1. And if you're not comfortable that the firm can deliver, give that serious consideration.
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pleapeddler
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Re: Any in-house positions open to new grads?
Albanach is spot on. Also heavily depends on what your goals are.
I don't agree with the idea that you can't get the same foundation-level legal skills in house. That's oft stated, but not true in practice. The in house function has shifted recently and many mid-size or large legal teams run like small firms. My in house team tends to keep the interesting work in house and farm the perfunctory work out to firms. But you definitely aren't guaranteed any level of development if the organization isn't set up for it. Many aren't.
I don't agree with the idea that you can't get the same foundation-level legal skills in house. That's oft stated, but not true in practice. The in house function has shifted recently and many mid-size or large legal teams run like small firms. My in house team tends to keep the interesting work in house and farm the perfunctory work out to firms. But you definitely aren't guaranteed any level of development if the organization isn't set up for it. Many aren't.
