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Fleeing the Firm for In House - A Few Good Resources

By William Peacock, Esq. on February 05, 2013 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

You entered this firm with the idea that in seven or eight years, you’d make partner. A few years after that, you’d have a seven-figure income. By the time you retired, your name would be on the door. Alas, that plan has not come to fruition.

Besides the fact that the three names on the door are dead dudes from the early 1900s, the economy has led to partner layoffs and you haven’t exactly made it rain. After all, how’s one supposed to bring in whales when they’ve only got friends in low places (where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases … )

Right now, you’re treading water career-wise, albeit with a six-figure salary. While things are fine for now, there is no future here. What you’d really like to do is make the move to in house, where your multitasking abilities and extroversion will be even more of an asset.

Here are a few tips to get you started.

Networking, duh

The worse the job market, the more the connections matter. We won't waste too much time this, other than to belabor a single point: a couple good connections are a more efficient means of advancing your career than sending out hundreds of resumes to ads and head-hunters.

Job Listings

ACA's Career Line

Speaking of ads, the Association of Corporate Counsel maintains a database of open in house jobs for attorneys only. There are no family law gigs or paralegal positions. It also appears that employers are required to pay to post an ad, which ensures that the ads are legitimate and not a data miner or Nigerian scammer.

GoInHouse.com

Another in house-targeted and paid site, GoInHouse is a clean-interfaced collection of available positions, easily sorted by experience level, industry, location, etc.

Former Clients

Wait for a second. Do not send out a mass email to all clients, past and present, expressing your desire to leave your current firm. That is, quite obviously, a bad idea.

If you have a few long-standing clients, especially ones who have moved from client to your social circles, it might we worth putting some subtle signals out there. They have contacts in the business world that you don't, plus they are in a unique position to recommend you, as both a friend and former client.

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