in-house lawyer salary info

[Anonymous]

it depends on the company and how flat the legal department is, but you have to remember that while 7 years of experience is well into partner track for an attorney, it is still pretty junior in the corporate world, generally, and somewhat in the corporate legal world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it depends on the company and how flat the legal department is, but you have to remember that while 7 years of experience is well into partner track for an attorney, it is still pretty junior in the corporate world, generally, and somewhat in the corporate legal world.

OP here. I know this is true, and I'm sure there will be raises down the line. I'm looking forward to getting off of the partner track rat race, anyway. We've just started more serious discussions at my office about business development. Made me want to run for the hills!

I'd also love to hear thoughts on typical hours for in-house positions. I'm looking at 8-5, with some expectation that I bring work home from time to time. Typical?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it depends on the company and how flat the legal department is, but you have to remember that while 7 years of experience is well into partner track for an attorney, it is still pretty junior in the corporate world, generally, and somewhat in the corporate legal world.

OP here. I know this is true, and I'm sure there will be raises down the line. I'm looking forward to getting off of the partner track rat race, anyway. We've just started more serious discussions at my office about business development. Made me want to run for the hills!

I'd also love to hear thoughts on typical hours for in-house positions. I'm looking at 8-5, with some expectation that I bring work home from time to time. Typical?

Typical hours in the companies I've worked for are 9-6pm, with work taken home and early meetings from your house. I don't know any attorney that leaves at 5 or 6 on the dot. In-house lawyers still have a heavy workload and long hours, travel, --minus the pressure to bill/count time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it depends on the company and how flat the legal department is, but you have to remember that while 7 years of experience is well into partner track for an attorney, it is still pretty junior in the corporate world, generally, and somewhat in the corporate legal world.

OP here. I know this is true, and I'm sure there will be raises down the line. I'm looking forward to getting off of the partner track rat race, anyway. We've just started more serious discussions at my office about business development. Made me want to run for the hills!

I'd also love to hear thoughts on typical hours for in-house positions. I'm looking at 8-5, with some expectation that I bring work home from time to time. Typical?

Typical hours in the companies I've worked for are 9-6pm, with work taken home and early meetings from your house. I don't know any attorney that leaves at 5 or 6 on the dot. In-house lawyers still have a heavy workload and long hours, travel, --minus the pressure to bill/count time.

I was really hoping to stop bringing work home, which is why I'm considering taking the $80k+ pay cut. Most of my friend in-house don't seem to bring work home, but they may be glossing over it or just aren't typical. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it depends on the company and how flat the legal department is, but you have to remember that while 7 years of experience is well into partner track for an attorney, it is still pretty junior in the corporate world, generally, and somewhat in the corporate legal world.

OP here. I know this is true, and I'm sure there will be raises down the line. I'm looking forward to getting off of the partner track rat race, anyway. We've just started more serious discussions at my office about business development. Made me want to run for the hills!

I'd also love to hear thoughts on typical hours for in-house positions. I'm looking at 8-5, with some expectation that I bring work home from time to time. Typical?

Typical hours in the companies I've worked for are 9-6pm, with work taken home and early meetings from your house. I don't know any attorney that leaves at 5 or 6 on the dot. In-house lawyers still have a heavy workload and long hours, travel, --minus the pressure to bill/count time.

I was really hoping to stop bringing work home, which is why I'm considering taking the $80k+ pay cut. Most of my friend in-house don't seem to bring work home, but they may be glossing over it or just aren't typical. Thanks.

i'm the PP with the in-house DH noted above. my DH works 8:30-5:30 M-F and never brings home work. he has a very specialized portfolio and is the only one who does what he does for his Fortune 100 company…and he has an amazing work-life balance.

[Anonymous]

Normal. My husband started in house at 140 (+25k bonus) and fantastic benefits. He had only clerkship + 3.5yrs govt exprrience before hire. He's up for a promotion in a year tho.

[Anonymous]

Im pp with husband inhouse. His hrs vary by project. This year 6 months were super easy breezy (many 9-4pm days), then the second half was brutal, law-firm like hours. Just turned in that project, so his hours are back to easy breezy for a few months before the next big push.

[Anonymous]

Also, if it is a big name company, they tend to pay less for some reason. Well, at least on base salary. If it's publicly traded and you have some sort of stock program in place, you can make up for a low base. Look at the overall compensation...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a 7th year associate at a law firm and make over $200k now. The benefits are OK--401k matching and a small profit sharing into the 401k. The work life balance should be better, the commute about the same.

I haven't seen salaries in the 170s anywhere.... but I'd love one of those positions.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts.

8 to 10 years out, base should be about 180 to 190 if you go to a defense contractor or other lucrative for profit in house position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:it depends on the company and how flat the legal department is, but you have to remember that while 7 years of experience is well into partner track for an attorney, it is still pretty junior in the corporate world, generally, and somewhat in the corporate legal world.

OP here. I know this is true, and I'm sure there will be raises down the line. I'm looking forward to getting off of the partner track rat race, anyway. We've just started more serious discussions at my office about business development. Made me want to run for the hills!

I'd also love to hear thoughts on typical hours for in-house positions. I'm looking at 8-5, with some expectation that I bring work home from time to time. Typical?

I work 8 to 5 in house, but it's inevitable that there will be evening emails and sometimes weekend work. Nowhere near the expectations I found in private practice, however.

[Anonymous]

I don't think its typical for lawyers in any job to work a classic 9-5 work week with no take home. I worked significanly more than that in government. I also have a friend who left a firm to go in house for better hours and literally her first day on the job her company got raided. My firm took the case, and she worked just as hard as we did for lower pay.

I definitely think in house jobs on average offer better hours than firm jobs. I just think its naive to believe its typically 100% different than other attorney gigs.

[Anonymous]

I make 120k in a nonprofit, work a 37.5 hour week and never bring work home.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP who said that sometimes the more well-known companies pay less. I find myself in that situation. I am an in-house lawyer with a Fortune 200 company, based in the DC satellite office. Our salary is similar to what has been proposed to your husband. But the bonuses are good, and the stock has done really well in the past many years.

I do find the in-house job to be a lot more enjoyable than my 7 years as a "big law" associate. I love how, when you work at a company, there is more of a shared sense of purpose (unlike a law firm where each little department interacts, but doesn't necessarily have any relation to the other departments, and it's every man for himself when it comes to conflicts of interest.) At least for me, I always felt that you're up or out at any moment.

In 2012, we had an open position (in DC) for an in-house lawyer at my company, and we literally had over 200 applications (many from law-firm partners). So there is a lot of interest in these jobs, particularly in DC where there are not a lot of in-house jobs (more govt and law firm and non-profit).

So I hope he'll take the job (assuming the company is poised for growth). I think he would be happy he did (unless he's really motivated to do the partner thing, which can be quite lucrative).

[Anonymous]

I am the person who just posted above. I re-read OP's message, and realized that the OP does not say "he" or "she." I think I was conflating this with PPs who were talking about their DHs. (I am a woman myself, and didn't mean to assume that OP was a "he.") I blame it on hectic holiday-season working mom brain. Sorry about that. Thx.