11 September 2024

In-house life.

With predictions that Gen Z will average 18 jobs across six careers, it’s clear that work pathways will change. After all those years of studying, lawyers might stay within the legal profession, but more paths are opening up to move in-house or into other areas of legal practice.

In-house roles vary greatly depending on the industry and the size of the legal team. You might be the sole counsel of a start-up or work in a very large team. But there are two commonalities: 1. You’ll provide advice that influences the direction of the business, and 2. You’ll find yourself balancing competing priorities—every day.

Making the move in-house
Many people consider moving in-house, especially towards the end of their careers. Perhaps you’re looking for greater flexibility or you’re tired of billing and targets. Maybe you want to become more immersed in a business. Working in-house means complementing your legal knowledge with a deep understanding of an organisation’s goals, risks, challenges and obligations.

Why move?
We’ve found that contributing to a single client’s success can be more satisfying than dealing with multiple clients. In-house lawyers also enjoy taking on broader responsibilities such as working closer to the ‘engine’ of the business, enabling new business, getting involved in development of new product and services and strategic planning.

There are many great reasons to move in-house. By connecting with Front Foot, we can help you test the waters.

In-house jumps
Career advancement can be slow in-house, so moving to another business or becoming an interim lawyer can be a great way to explore other avenues to progress and develop new skills while enjoying a change of scenery.

Whatever industry interests you, every organisation benefits from having in-house lawyers who are aligned to their strategic objectives and know how to achieve them. Building operational skills enables you to be effective wherever you’re working. We offer a range of on-demand training modules through our Front Foot Academy that you can fit around your daily life.

Moving up
Senior roles don’t appear regularly, so you might need to either wait for a vacancy or explore options outside of the organisation. As we mentioned in a previous newsletter, building your personal brand is essential to getting ahead. You need to be able to communicate in a clear and straightforward style and manage up as well as down. Become known as someone who gets things done and prioritises what matters most. It can be hard to show your value, but you’ll get left behind if you don’t. Work out ways to measure your success and demonstrate this to decision-makers.

If you’d like to explore working in-house, we’d love to hear from you.