Breaking Stereotypes: Unleashing the Potential and Skills of In-House Attorneys

Description

• Harrison discusses the misconception that only average lawyers work in-house.
• He highlights the presence of exceptional attorneys in corporate roles.
• Many top attorneys are found in corporate and other in-house positions.
• General counsel often come from prestigious law firms as equity partners.
• Working in-house involves a balance between doing the work and generating business.
• In-house attorneys become experts at assigning work and protecting their companies.
• While this role is crucial, it can impact their legal skills when they do hands-on work.

Transcript

Transcript:

No, it's not. Some exceptional attorneys are working in-house. That's wild; there are a lot of outstanding attorneys working in-house. Some of the best attorneys are in corporate, and other practice areas are in-house.

The general counsel is often coming from big law firms as equity partners. No, it's not that only average lawyers, workers, and in-house attorneys, it's not the case. Many different types of attorneys that are in-house when they're inside a law firm are not generating business.

They're playing 50% of the game, and that's half of the game is doing the work. The other 50 are learning how to get business. When you're in-house, you become an expert and give work to others, like taking work that comes in and knowing what outside counsel to give to protect the company.

Now, there's nothing wrong with that. That's a vital role, but you tend to spend more time giving away work than doing the work. Then, because you become an expert on that, your legal skills suffer when you're always doing the work.