OP here.

I’m not sure whether the person whose reply bumped this thread a few days ago had noticed that it was almost a year old!

I happened to see the topic pop back up and appreciate the commiseration and good advice. I’m still in the same role, things have improved somewhat, but I am still not fully over myself

Anonymous wrote:I’m a fairly senior in-house counsel at a mid-sized company. Been here a couple years after close to a decade in big law - was counsel, never had partnership in me. I struggle with feeling like I should have more influence at work and feeling like this is kind of a dead end for my career. My boss is great but is not going anywhere soon so I will be playing second fiddle for a long time. Sometimes I don’t care because the work/life balance is great and I have young kids. Other times it grates my ego that I’m not in charge and I’m not even developing the skills to be in charge because of the way this company runs. Anyone have words of wisdom? Not everyone can be the big cheese, right, and I should get over it?

NP. Look, nobody with real power actually cares what the GC thinks either, so getting to GC won’t change that for you. The GC role more well-compensated than most of the senior specialist legal roles, but it’s a more lonely and annoyingly political job with far worse hours and a lot more stress. If you want to be in a job where you are actually in charge of something, you have to leave law entirely. Otherwise just enjoy your likely-good comp and good working hours and get some therapy to deal with your feelings of inadequacy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply for GC positions or get over it. Those are your choices.

Agree with this. GC would be the next step. Well, or Deputy GC.

+1 you need to decide if your focus over next year or two will be family or advancing your career.

My god, you people are exhausting.

OP I just wanted to flag that your post really resonated with me. I had a milestone birthday coming up that spurred a bit of career midlife crisis "am I where I thought I would be?!?" I'd also spent the prior bunch of years in the trenches of infertility, IVF, pregnancies etc so once that was "in place" I started focusing more on what was missing with my career.

I'm definitely not top brass or a GC but I did make a career change and it helped me feel like I was growing and learning and out of a rut. I also second a PP who recommended adding more industry events, bar committee participation etc. to your list. I can help make your career feel more multi-faceted and a bit beyond just your specific title/role. For me, it's helped me view myself as a real expert on certain niche issues (and not just a cog at my specific company).