Originally published in Student Lawyer magazine, November 2003 (Vol. 32, No. 3). All rights reserved.

Hot Practice

Want company? Consider work with an in-house legal department

ABA Corporate Counsel Resources

by Lisa Stansky

Many students aiming for private practice assume they'll represent businesses--lots of them. But don't overlook another option: working for a single corporation as an in-house lawyer, who handles a company's legal business from the inside.

Corporations provide many lawyers a comfortable home and healthy balance between career and personal life. And in recent years, corporate legal departments have vied to be hospitable to women and minorities.

To score an in-house counsel job, you'll probably need a few years of experience under your belt. So carefully choose that first job out of law school, preferably with a well-respected firm that represents businesses. A corporate employer down the line will scrutinize the quality of training you received while racking up billable hours during those early years.

Why the focus on law firm experience? A business looking to hire a lawyer as part of its in-house team wants to save time, money, and energy by finding someone who's already versed in the law and the nuances of legal practice.

Earl Barnes, a member of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, says getting a job with a large firm is "a good way to go right out of school" if your ultimate goal is an in-house position. That's what he did early in his career. Today, he's vice president of legal affairs and general counsel with Rockford Health System in Illinois.

A stereotypical image of corporate America is male and white, but the commission and groups such as the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (www.mcca.com) are implementing programs to enlighten the business world about the value of a diverse legal corps.

As for work-life balance, many in-house lawyers say they relish the freedom to work for the sake of seeing a job well done rather than racking up billable hours to meet benchmarks. Another benefit: having only one client to understand, which allows for greater interaction and focus.

"I'm able to strike a better balance for myself in an in-house setting," says Judy Toyer, chair of the corporate counsel committee of the ABA General Practice, Solo, and Small Firm Section. Toyer worked for a large firm, clerked for a judge, and ran a solo practice before taking her current job at Eastman Kodak Co. as counsel with its employment law legal staff.

"You need to give timely, accurate legal advice," Toyer says, noting that ability comes with experience. For example, she needs to know when to call on outside counsel to handle a project, and she needs administrative finesse to manage them.

Juanita Luis, associate general counsel with UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka, Minn., says she likes the fact that in-house counsel get to know a single client (i.e., their employer) really well. "You become part of the management team," says Luis, who also serves as chair of the corporate counsel division of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS).

Michael Patterson, vice chair of TIPS' corporate counsel committee, has a job that represents a twist on the traditional in-house arena. As director of the legal department at the Michigan Basic Property Insurance Association, Patterson doesn't focus on his company's internal legal affairs, as corporate counsel tend to do. Instead, he manages a separate group of staff lawyers who do legal work on the insurance claims the company handles.

What types of legal work do businesses need? Toyer advises prospective corporate counsel to focus on several key areas of substantive law during their early years in law firm practice: labor and employment law, intellectual property, corporate work, regulatory practice, commercial law, transactional work, real estate, and mergers and acquisitions.

For at least one variety of in-house practice, you already have a significant tie to a prospective employer or two: your law school or college alma mater.

"One of the first places law students should think about is the general counsel's office right at your university," says David Williams II, vice chancellor, general counsel, and secretary of Vanderbilt University and co-chair of the ABA Business Law Section's corporate counsel committee. In this academic setting, the legal department feels like a small firm, he says of his crew of 12 lawyers.

Williams' ABA committee is working to get the word out among law students about in-house practice. "We actually have programs at law schools," he says. "We would like to interact with law students." Write him at david.williams@vanderbilt.edu if you'd like ABA members in your area to visit your school.

Dispute resolution is another area where in-house lawyers can excel. Teri McClure worked with a private firm for roughly eight years before signing on with United Parcel Service in Houston, where she heads the company's in-house labor and employment group. She was instrumental in developing the company's employee dispute resolution program. Conflict resolution, listening, and counseling skills are invaluable in her duties.

McClure, who chairs the corporate ADR committee of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, says her work is as much about the health of her employer's business as it is about the law. As she puts it, "You have to have a real appreciation of the [company's] business goals and objectives."

Lisa Stansky (ljstansky@cs.com), a graduate of Yale Law School, is a lawyer and freelance writer in New Orleans.

Are you interested in other fields of law? Read previous Hot Practice columns online at www.abanet.org/lsd/stulawyer.

ABA Corporate Counsel Resources

The ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice (www.abanet.org/adminlaw) has a corporate counsel committee. Section membership is free for law students. Sign up and receive a subscription to Administrative Law Review.

The Section of Business Law (www.abanet.org/buslaw) has corporate counsel and corporate general counsel committees. Law student membership is free and provides a subscription to Business Law Today and The Business Lawyer, a student-edited law journal.

The Section of Dispute Resolution (www.abanet.org/dispute) has a corporate ADR committee. For a $10 student membership, you'll receive a subscription to Dispute Resolution magazine.

The General Practice, Solo, and Small Firm Section (www.abanet.org/genpractice) has a corporate counsel committee. Student membership is free and provides a subscription to GPSolo magazine.

The Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession (www.abanet.org/minorities) has a minority counsel program and minority in-house counsel group. Visit the commission's web site for information about job opportunities and other insights regarding in-house work. You also can learn about the commission's judicial clerkship program for minority students.

The Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (www.abanet.org/tips) has a corporate counsel committee. Section membership is free for law students. Sign up and receive a subscription to The Brief and Tort Trial and Insurance Law Journal.

Law students can receive all the informational, educational, and networking benefits of ABA section membership-often free of charge or at reduced rates. To join a section, call 800-285-2221.