Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Hi, this is prolly an uncommon question but hoping for insights from any corp/transactional lawyers who've successfully transited from in-house back to private practice.
Some background : corp associate in a non-B4/mid-tier firm and went in-house at around the 4th year mark. My current (and only) in-house role is in a local listco where I've been for slightly > 2 years.
Rn, I'm seriously contemplating a return to pvt practice, preferably in a B4 or a strong mid tier corp team. For personal reasons, a return to my old firm isn't in the cards for me.
My questions are:
1. How willing are B4 or strong corp law firms take in someone of my profile (as compared to lateral hires who have been in private prac all the while)? Does my 2+ years in-house exp confer any advantage at all compared to other candidates?
2. Since B4 and most large firms have a rigid track to JP, where would I fit along the rung towards JP? How much of an 'internal' pqe discount should I expect? Most of my peers still in private practice are at the cusp of JP within the next 1 to 2 years.
3. Is my salary likely to fall back to the 'internal' pqe band(s) within the firm itself, or do I have room to nego salary based on my current in-house role (which comprises base + rather wide variable bonus component)?
Thanks!
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1. Corp is quite hot right now, a lot of firms are hiring. Your experience is unlikely to confer much benefits unless you either (1) worked in a bank/private equity firm or (2) can bring the current firm in as a client. However, it confers no disadvantage as well, as long as you are able to make a case that your work is substantially similar to corp work in b4 (which is not actually that hard to do - since you only left for 2 years, and you were already a 4PQE SA at the time you left).
2. Where you fit along the rung depends largely on the type of in-house you went to, and your skill level.
Generally, you can expect to be delayed by 1 year (or so) compared to your peers. This may not represent a PQE discount, but the bosses need to know you can work well (since you are new). It's like lateral-ing in from any firm, you'll need more time to convince them to make you JP as opposed to an internal candidate. However, since SA salaries top out around 5PQE-6PQE (until they make partner), you need to assume that, effectively, you will be at top SA-scale for maybe 1 year more.
Unless of course, you can bring in business, or you prove to be as good as your peers at 6PQE. It's easier to do that in Corp, since 4PQE and 6PQE work is quite similar.
3. Salaries after a certain PQE are generally a black box, that is based on how much the partners like you, and what you can bring to the firm.
However, if you have not been keeping up with the news, the payscale has actually increased for lawyers in the larger firms, so your pay, even if it follows the internal salary scale, may not be lower than your current in-house. TBH, I don't know why you would not want to follow the internal payscale, since you'll likely be drawing less unless you're in banking in-house or FAANG.