My large law firm client told me this while discussing their private company attorney search in Chicago last week. This openness still takes me by surprise, even though firms have been recruiting out of in-house departments for the last couple of years.
Back in ancient times when I started in the legal recruiter biz, I was told that it was impossible to place an attorney from in-house to a firm. The only exception was for between gig general counsels. In that situation a firm would throw that person a counsel/partner role while they were searching for their next top law department job.
However, the maximum that once an attorney is in-house, they can never join a firm, is obviously no longer true. I placed several in-house attorneys with firms last year, and I currently have in-house attorneys interviewing with AmLaw firms in Detroit, Chicago, and D.C.
The big question is why the change?
There are many reasons, but my personal belief is that a major contributing factor is the attorney talent shortages created by the 2008 recession. Firms laid off several classes of associates, reduced law firm hiring, and these actions are still impacting the lateral market.
Additionally, because time is a flat circle, the same thing happened again in 2020. We all know that hiring went crazy in 2021 through mid-2022, but a lot of very talented attorneys who were forced to leave large firms in 2020 didn’t find a way back or exited the law business for other opportunities.
These two events created attorney talent scarcities throughout several class years in many practice areas. Especially in M&A, securities, public company advisory, and real estate.
Many firms are giving equal consideration to in-house attorneys because the market for certain high-level experience is too tight at peer or near-peer firms, and they must broaden their search to in-house departments to fill critical roles in its associate and partner ranks.
Yes – I said partner ranks. If you have the right experience, then a portable book is no longer absolutely necessary. This means that senior in-house attorneys are joining firms as partners, often with a major upside in compensation.
The world is uncertain, and this post is intended to make in-house attorneys aware that you have law firm options. The hiring process at firms move at lightspeed compared to companies, you have many clients instead of one who views you as a cost center, and the compensation is often highly competitive.
If you are an in-house attorney and this post speaks to you, then please reach out.
JB