Do all of your work really well, but don't biglaw nit anything. Focus on learning all the corporate politics and making "work friends" with the clients. Volunteer for random things or projects that come up but don't get mired in muck.

Your reputation will be set in stone in your first year, so if you create a superstar impression on your first review you can coast on that for the rest of your time there.

There are in-house drones, but the real powers that be know exactly who they are and they want them that way. Set yourself up as someone who really understands how the company works.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40975683)

What are the signs of a drone?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40975706)

The other thing about in-house is that things get re-org'd all the time. So if everyone likes you and your reputation is you do good work and want to do more things you will have the opportunity to advance, even if it's just an expanding portfolio.

You'll make the jump to AGC by changing companies.

But trust me brother, working with the C-suite is a double edged sword. When the CFO starts calling you he will treat you like he treats biglaw partners. And if you fuck something up they will never forget.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40975739)

at our company, being the GC is prolly worse than being a regular partner at a firm

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40975798)

after u learn how the biz works and become useful to people in other departments, though, u start fielding calls from higher-ups in the company (the equivalents of the partners at a firm) and it becomes much more interesting

i was like a junior/midlevel associate for the GC at my inhouse company for 1-2 years, but slowly transitioned into a quasi-biz role where i routinely chat with and advise the CTO, the most senior software devs, and once in a while, the CEO of our company

within a year u'll never want to go back to a firm -- and this is true even if all u are is a corp drone who never moves up the ladder

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40975747)

i used to work biglaw hours in my first two years in inhouse but i usually work 10-5 now w/no weekends

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40978321)

Most companies have all the employees there by 8 am and are ghost towns by 5:30.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40978454)

Biglaw Partner: The proposed activity does not by itself exclude the possibility of using te limited exemption for the transaction as described.

Biglaw Assoc: So is that a yes or no?

Biglaw Partner: Well. I don't understand your question. If your question is whether the client can or can't do it given the limited exemption available given the circumstances....*sees assoc blow head off*

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40979649)

That said, even with the higher level positions you're not billing hours, you're not worrying that "you don't make your hours" so you're going to get cut. You can chill and enjoy a slow week or month. Even for shitty places like Amazon and Netflix you still see a QOL increase over biglaw because 1) no billing, and 2) no up or out.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40979491)

This was my fate. It can be soul crushing. Little over a year and a half longer and i can quit and do my own thing. Can't wait.

It can have it's upsides though depending on your team.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40979476)

I’m in another country so using in house to get citizenship. Less than 2 years away.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40979786)

In fact, part of the reason I have been so successful is because I’m able to realize what’s important and what’s not enough in order do a good job but also not get stressed when things go wrong. After all, lives are not on the line.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40979729)

This thread is full of fearful bootlickers and self-soothig toads who think that ‘take pride in your hobbies’ is a reasonable reaction to signing up for 10+ years of soulless ‘thank’ emails.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40982309)

Why don’t you opine some more about biglaw from the perspective of someone who stuck around but couldn’t hack it. It gives us all a good laugh like a fan coaching from the sidelines.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40990542)

Now do law firms.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40986174)

Also, Cali is going after people who leave.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40987236)

If you sell all your shit and leave they can't do shit.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40988485)

If I were I'd move to Reno or southern washington. No state income tax. But I think it could still be taxed by california.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40987254)

What sucks, however, is:

1. Becoming a nameless cog in the machine. At a law firm, even at the counsel or non-equity service partner level, you are encouraged to build your profile. This means becoming a subject matter expert, writing articles, getting published, doing interviews in trade journals or actual media, joining company or community boards, etc. Basically, you get to build some personal brand and recognition. At least you get to look/feel like someone "important" in your field. Many lawyers are shitty at this, but this can be satisfying. As an in-house counsel, you're just forever a nameless cog.

2. Often, but not always, the actual office sucks. This will change as WFH becomes more common, obviously. But there is actually something pretty 180 about having a windowed office on a high floor of a Class A midtown office building, catering staff for meetings, expensive art in the lobby, etc. It sounds dumb, and I certainly didn't care about it when I worked in biglaw, but I missed it once I was gone. Sure, if you go in-house at a private equity fund, you'll have the same (or better) accommodations. But if you go in-house to Johnson Widget Manufacturing, you may be working from a windowless box in a one-story office park off the Jersey Turnpike. That shit is depressing.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40990618)

I found being expected to do this shit, in addition to all the other actual billable shit you have to do in biglaw, to be perhaps the worst part of it. All of it is just inherently meaningless signaling - you're an important person that serves on the bullshit board of a small nonprofit by which you attend board meetings with a free lunch and rubber stamp decisions. It's the biglaw equivalent of shitlawyers featuring themselves in Superlawyers.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40990753)

I push as much actual work as I can on juniors and don't even review it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40990828)

Same with a lot of the other stuff.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40992949)

That's my issue too. And many pro-bono assignments that come up are legit shitlib causes (help illegal immigrants fight deportation, help felons get their records expunged so they can vote for Democrats again, help mail order brides fight deportation while still divorcing their husbands by claiming domestic abuse, help gays/minorities/etc. blah blah blah - and yes, I've seen every single one of these come up recently). I refuse to do pro-bono cases that I think suck. So I pass unless I see some value in it. The ones that are decent get snapped up quickly. There are some that are like debate prep for HS kids or teach them about some legal topic (Street Law stuff) that is fine.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40993006)

if that's your job--negotiating SAAS agreements or something--why not just make 2 rounds of comments and then drop everything no matter what?

just seems like a huge waste of time for stuff that doesn't matter at all. even if completely insane terms.

Now M&A indemnities or something big like that have claims like 25% of the time so make sense to have biglaw fret over the details.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40990660)

Most important vendor Ks will have service level stds. So you will prbly spend more time on that then the main K.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#40990923)

oh and biglaw is twice the pay.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4631898&forum_id=2#41002648)