If you started your legal career in-house and are considering a move into private practice, don’t doubt your career experience so far. Your learnings and skills will be invaluable in many ways.
Working in-house hones skills that can equip you to thrive in private practice. Here are some that will transfer seamlessly and maximise your effectiveness as an external lawyer.
Tailoring legal advice
As an in-house lawyer, you know your organisation deeply – and far more so than any external counsel. You interact with all departments, learn how the business strategy affects each one and how requirements for legal advice vary between them.
Product development, go-to-market or strategy meetings, for example, broaden your commercial awareness and help you determine exactly what legal advice each department will need – and when.
You also understand that your internal clients are not legal experts. This means that you learn the value of interpreting technical legal language and making your advice to people bespoke, concise and clearly understood.
Presenting advice with a clear, single line summary when possible and following up with the explanatory breakdown in plain English is a skill valued by everyone, including clients of private practice.
Experiences in managing external counsel (and going on secondment) also help you view legal challenges from both the clients’ and legal advisers’ perspectives and build relationships on trust and mutual understanding.
Clients appreciate your broader industry knowledge as well as your legal expertise. They’re also assured that your advice is actionable and specific to their concerns.
Taking preventive action
The business mindset that you develop as an in-house lawyer helps you think laterally. It enables you to see the full picture and anticipate problems before they arise. This is particularly true if an internal client asks you for advice on something which may have a knock-on effect on other areas of the business.
Similarly, you’ll have a natural tendency to horizon scan, which means you’re often involved in proactive problem solving and preventing legal issues from arising. In private practice, this ability to contribute to cost saving and avoidance of trouble is valued highly by clients.
Communicating effectively
As I mentioned above, being able to give good legal advice without drowning non-legal clients in complex technical language is a skill that most in-house lawyers develop naturally. However, it’s equally important that the advice is commercially sound, too.
Across the business, there will be people with varying needs for legal advice. Some, for example, will want to know how much money is at risk while others will be concerned about regulatory or reputational risks.
In-house exposes you to all these people and the full range of conversations that need to be had. And when moving into private practice, this experience will help you build strong relationships in which clients feel understood and valued.
Working autonomously
In-house lawyers enjoy greater autonomy – and earlier in their careers – than their private practice peers. And for good reason. Many of the issues that a client takes to a law firm are often riskier than those they routinely deal with in-house so are handled and led by senior people, with more junior people supporting them.
In contrast, in-house lawyers spend much of their time dealing directly with business clients and this has a huge impact on their confidence and assertiveness. This will stand you in great stead when moving from in-house to private practice.
Winning trust and building support
As an in-house lawyer, if colleagues don’t trust you, they might not come to you. This can cause problems, particularly if the internal client underestimates the legal risk associated with their concern. It’s therefore vital to have great relationship building skills, show curiosity in all aspects of the business and offer support as a colleague, not only as a lawyer.
In private practice, this willingness to provide a comprehensive service that goes beyond legal will differentiate you from others in your profession.
So, remember, if you’re looking to develop your career in private practice, you have some indispensable skills to build on. Make the very most of your in-house experience and the tools you’ve developed. Don’t be afraid of doing something different. Instead, be ready for change and the start of a new chapter in your career.