The road to becoming a general counsel – a perspective from Jay Kim, a recruiter and Managing Director at MLA’s San Francisco office. When looking at General Counsel jobs, be prepared: “Although there is no prescribed or set path to the general counsel (GC) role, there are proactive steps you can take to get to … Read more
The Only Job With an Industry Devoted to Helping People Quit
A recent piece in the Atlantic discusses the proliferation of individuals and businesses helping people quit the law. At the same time, scores of recent law graduates are looking for their first positions and, notwithstanding a recent decline, large numbers are about to begin law school. With the transformation of the practice of law well … Read more
Confirmed: In-House Lawyers as Good as Name-Brand Product
As if there were any question? The 7th Circuit has confirmed what we all knew to be true – in-house lawyers are as good as their law firm counterparts. Perhaps this case will be appealed to the Supreme Court so that it can add its imprimatur. Here’s a link to a discussion of the 7th circuit … Read more
Presentation Tips for Legal Professionals
Many in-house counsel fear giving presentations. Fortunately, two experts have created a series of podcasts that provide presentation tips for legal professionals: I’ve done a number of presentations lately in all sorts of formats – solo, duo, panels and webcasts. For the Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast on the Legal Talk Network, Tom and I decided to record … Read more
Academic sees corporate law as one of the BS jobs
Many in-house counsel might say that some of the things they do during the week are “bs jobs” but would they say that about their corporate law career in general? Are corporate lawyers basically “salaried paper-pushers” in “bullshit jobs”? But after a few unsuccessful albums, the friend decided to go to law school. “Now he’s … Read more
“You can do anything with a law degree?” Not?
Well every lawyer has heard it at least few times – you can do anything with a law degree. Old adage, meet this article from Slate which pours some cold water on the party. From our view, there is some merit in this article – a J.D. alone does not empower you with broad skills … Read more
Are You Checking Work Email in Bed?
The demands of being “omniavailable” can seriously backfire according to new research (who knew?). So, if you are checking work email in bed or at other times when you should be relaxing, read on: Over time, the creep of off-hours messages from our bosses and colleagues has led us to tolerate these intrusions as an … Read more
The Illusion of Attorney Job Security and Practical Implications
by Andrew Gurman, Managing Director Michael Lord and Company Many have seen the practice of law at major, large law firms or within an in-house setting as a safe choice for earning solid compensation and enjoying excellent job stability. That conception suffered during the Great Recession in the face of mass Biglaw and significant corporate … Read more
Conference Call in Real Life (Funny)
As an in-house counsel, your life probably includes a bevy of meetings (and sometimes, meetings about planning future meetings). But nothing surpasses the joy of the conference call. Check out this hilarious conference call YouTube video by Tripp & Tyler.
Advice to Law Firm Partners Considering Going In-House
Law Firm Partners Going In-House – Background People often ask me what trends I’ve seen in my 31 years of legal recruiting. I usually start off the list by mentioning the diminishing attraction of the traditional law firm. That’s not to say that law firms don’t remain the bulwark of law practice; they do. The … Read more