As I’ve mentioned before, my little megaphone at Above the Law makes mine the shoulder upon which unhappy lawyers cry.  The megaphone also often makes mine the ears into which unhappy lawyers whisper when looking for in-house jobs.  I occasionally learn something from that whispering.

I told you long ago that looking for an in-house job isn’t the same as looking for a job at a law firm.  Legal recruiters often know about many available jobs at law firms.  Law firms themselves often announce that they’re looking for associates.  If you want a job at a law firm, you can find out what jobs are available.

The same isn’t true in-house.  Many corporations post job openings for relatively junior in-house jobs, but corporations are more likely to rely on recruiters to find attractive candidates for senior jobs.  Here’s the rub — no single recruiter is likely to be retained by many corporations, so no single recruiter has a decent view of the market.  Recruiter A knows about job A;  recruiter B doesn’t know of any jobs; recruiter C knows about job C.  But no one person can tell you about jobs A to Z; the market is too divided.  That means you must let many recruiters know that you’re looking if you hope to find the right job for you. 

Second, currently, it’s a buyer’s market for in-house lawyers.  There are many lawyers in the world, and many of those people would like to escape from the firms for which they work.  In a very few, specialized fields, corporations may have trouble finding a lawyer qualified for a particular spot.  But for most positions — a generalist litigator or M&A lawyer — there are more people applying for in-house jobs than there are jobs available.  

Third, age matters.  A job-whisperer recently told me that he (or she, but I’ll use the masculine) is relatively happy at a big firm.  But this person is sufficiently unhappy to be pursuing in-house opportunities.  Many recruiters have given this advice:  If you’re looking to move in-house, make the move when you’re in your mid-40s (or younger).  If you’re older than that, corporations will consider you only for general counsel positions, and those positions are very hard to come by.  If you apply for in-house jobs when you’re still in your mid-40s, corporations will consider you for “number two” positions — the head of litigation; the head of M&A; the lead lawyer for a business unit.  There are far more “number two” jobs than there are “number one” jobs, so apply when you’re younger, and then, if you care to, work your way up.  (Who said age discrimination was against the law?)

Finally, my job-whisperer said the same thing that everyone who’s looking for an in-house job hears:  Networking really does appear to be the key to this game.  Although it’s possible that you’ll see an ad for a job that grabs you, or you’ll receive a call from a headhunter out of the blue, you’re more likely to find a job if you’ve reached out to every in-house person you know — or can finagle an introduction to — and hope that one of those people will let you know when they hear of a lead.

Sorry I can’t be more optimistic.  But good luck!

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at [email protected].

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