Working as an In-House Solicitor

Hermitage

I have been reading with interest many threads in here about the difficulties faced by solicitors and the disillusionment many have with the profession. I felt compelled to offer a more positive perspective.

I have been working in law for the past 11 years, initially as a legal secretary and then as a paralegal. I am now a trainee solicitor. I worked for almost 3 of those years in private practice and the remainder in two different in-house roles. In-house work is vastly preferable to private practice.

The pressure in private practice is enormous, as many of you know. The pressure in-house has been much more manageable. It is a huge advantage to work for one "client" only. Your client is your colleague and therefore can come to you at the speculative stage of a transaction (as they are not incurring fees) which gives you much more time to work on a project, being involved from the beginning. That is just one example. There is also the advantage that your colleague client is not personally concerned to the same degree by the work you are doing, i.e. like in a litigation or criminal matter, so they do not bring that added stress to the working relationship. They also are as keen as anyone to work within their working hours so long late nights and weekend work are not as common as in private practice.

There is also the obvious benefit in the current client of being salaried and not working as a fee-earner. There is no pressure to bring in work or have to work for hours that are unbillable.

Another advantage is that when working in-house there isn't the worry of being sued personally by a client. We don't have to pay PI as we are only entitled to advise one client only, that being our employer, and we are bound by the company disciplinary rules and employement law generally.

As a trainee I have noticed that the Law Soc training is understandably geared towards the general practitioner. In Blackhall we are constantly being reminded of the threat of being sued and how to best protect ourselves. It is no doubt a massive worry for private practice solicitors.
The Law Soc did run career seminars this year for trainees, one on how to get work abroad (!) and another on how our qualification can be used other than for private, GP work. In-House was one area they were encouraging people to consider. It is a growth area now as it is often cheaper to pay a professional's salary than to engage a lawyer at an hourly rate. A steady income is a big plus for any solicitor at the moment also.
Finally, it can give you an opportunity to specialise and carve a niche for yourself, which you may not get in a GP where you have to take any work that comes your way.

I just thought I would post my experience in case it opens up a new direction for any struggling solicitors out there.