BCL Legal Recruitment

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What challenges would I face as an in-house lawyer?

As part of a comparatively small legal team within a much larger business, you’ll be faced with a constant stream of legal queries from all angles. Unlike private practice where you can pass work to another department if something is outside your area of expertise, you’ll still be expected to provide sound commercial advice and you will be required to apply the law to a wider variety of issues – and understand the commercial consequences of your advice.

You’ll need to be able to update non-lawyer colleagues (including HR and sales staff) on legal updates that will have an impact on the business, and you should be prepared to cover for your colleagues or be seconded to different parts of the business for special projects.

You’ll need a strong commercial acumen too, as you’ll be making decisions with the people who directly run the business, often directors, and will be expected to offer practical solutions and clear explanations of any legal implications. If a plan’s unworkable, you’ll need to provide a commercial workable alternative.

Adaptability is key – in a constantly changing business you’ll need to be flexible, cope with an unpredictable working day and make decisions under pressure to meet short deadlines.

How should my career progress within the company?

In-house lawyers tend to manage their own careers. Once you’ve moved in-house you can assess your skills, see where you have less experience and source training accordingly. If you’re the sole lawyer you may want to put a business case together to justify growing the legal team with you as manager. If you joined a larger in-house department, you may not get the opportunity for management experience until the incumbent moves on or retires, so progressing your career may mean moving to another in-house role.

A general counsel role in a large organisation needs time served and lots of experience, so you may initially be responsible for a business division where you’d probably report to its finance director and reporting in to the overall general counsel.

In-house lawyers move between sectors quite regularly, and companies prefer those with industry experience at a senior level rather than those coming directly from private practice – so your first move in-house is crucial. Some lawyers also find commercial, rather than strictly legal, roles within the business that offer a complete shift in career away from the law.