In-House is super hot

Corporations hiring new staff attorneys or general counsel are finding no shortage of qualified applicants. As pressure builds in law firms to, for example, pay for recent associate salary increases, a growing number of lawyers are looking toward in-house jobs as a desirable career path.

"We see a ton of lawyers who would have a strong interest in the right in-house opportunity," said Melba Hughes, founder and owner of Hughes Consultants, an Atlanta-based executive search firm that specializes in legal jobs.

"With the increased billable hours and bill rates, and demand for client development, law firm lawyers are continuing to consider their options," she said. "They see a very different picture when they look at in-house counsel."

Firm lawyers often want to let go of living life in six-minute intervals. "The number one thing you hear from lawyers is they're tired of billing their time," Hughes said.

Since corporations tend to pay less than law firms, attorneys appear to want something more than money -- being part of a team, association with a product or service, better hours or more flexibility -- and maybe stock to boot if it's a public company.

A big part of the in-house allure is identifying with one organization, as opposed to working for multiple clients. "The opportunity to help business people meet their objectives is attractive," said Hughes. "It's the psychological value of getting in on the deal at the front end as opposed to after the decision has been made."

The law firm culture does not necessarily fit everyone. "I think there's a perception that the culture in corporations is different than the culture in a law firm," said Hughes. "The business of a law firm is to practice law, as opposed to the business of a corporation, which is to produce something. That difference changes the culture."

Of course, in-house jobs come with plenty of unique pressures of their own -- particularly with the increased reporting and compliance requirements in the era of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Certainly, some corporate counsel would say, "If only I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have made the move," said Frederick J. Krebs, president of the Washington-based Association of Corporate Counsel. But, he said, "Even if you hear, 'I'm getting out, the world has changed,' you still have plenty wanting to get in."

Obviously, some in-house positions are more desirable than others, said Krebs. But he hears from recruiters and GCs that they see a high number of applicants for any open position. "I'm constantly having people ask me about it, saying, 'If you hear anything, let me know,' and giving me their résumé," he added.

Kent B. Alexander, senior vice president and general counsel for Emory University and Emory Healthcare, offers a case in point. He said he had an opening this year for one position in the department -- and received 136 applications. From those, he was able to select 20 highly qualified candidates to interview.

"There's an exodus of people from law firms going in house," Alexander said. "It's not money. It's quality of work and life."

To be sure, Emory might not be typical. "That doesn't surprise me," said Krebs of the ACC. "I think the numbers are a little juiced because it's Emory and a university atmosphere."

But, Krebs added, "I still hear similar stories from corporations that are hunting, posting ads, going onto our job lines. There are plenty of applicants out there. In-house positions are perceived as being very desirable."

Finding a general counsel is a different search than finding other lawyers for a corporate legal department, Krebs said. "It's a smaller pool" of qualified applicants.

Corporate legal jobs that do not have the GC responsibility might have the attraction of less pressure. But then there's a down side. "The career track is not the same as law firms," said Alexander, who came from King & Spalding by way of the U.S. Attorney's Office. "The problem for the assistant GC is, where do you go from here?"

Pros and cons considered, the lawyers who make the move in house often report a high degree of satisfaction. They talk about a new sense of pride in their company's product or service -- or mission, if it's a nonprofit organization. And they note they generally have more manageable hours and the freedom to go home to their families in the evening -- particularly in the age of the BlackBerry. They can be available when needed without being in the office all the time.

Kristine Berry Morain, now general counsel of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, said she feels good about helping children. When asked why she left a partnership in a law firm to take a job as the sole attorney in a corporate legal department, she thinks back to the birth of her son, now 7. "I was nine months pregnant, and I was in the middle of trying a case," she says. "I had the baby in the middle of the case." She had to rush from courtroom to hospital room to deliver.

A few months later, she was trying another case before the same judge. The judge looked at her with recognition and asked -- to the bewilderment of all the other lawyers on the new case -- "Ms. Morain, are you going to have a baby today?"

"No, your honor. Not today," was the answer.

A few years later -- after the birth of her daughter -- the hours and the travel became even more difficult. That's when she began to consider in-house jobs. "I thought, 'I can't keep traveling like this.'"

Certainly the financial rewards are not as great at they would be as a partner in a law firm -- particularly at a nonprofit. "They couldn't be. It wouldn't be fiscally responsible," she said. But the other rewards more than make up the difference in her book: better hours, less travel, more family-oriented culture. Plus, there's the feeling of being part of a team rather than moving from one client to another.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of America is virtually, by definition, a very family-oriented organization, Morain said, noting, "It's never come up in a review that I've spent too much time at my kid's school."

Intangible benefits such as more manageable hours and quality of life are among the typical reasons why people leave law firms for in-house jobs, said George Q. Sewell, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for The Facility Group Inc. and president of the Association of Corporate Counsel Georgia chapter.

"Average salaries are always going to be lower in house," Sewell said. "But there are other ways to attract and keep qualified people."