How are in-house and private practice different?

How are in-house and private practice different?

Studying law, and working in law at a junior level, can prepare you for a lot of things. They can both deepen your understanding of different areas of law, show you new ways of looking at problems, and introduce you to legal networks. What they can鈥檛 do, is teach you the nuances of legal workplaces and work cultures.

For instance, there鈥檚 a lot you might not have considered about how working or training in-house could differ from working in private practice. At face value, a role in either should be the same. However, this is far from the truth. We wanted to explore this in more detail, so we teamed up with  and  to host a virtual event exploring the differing perspectives of working in-house as opposed to in private practice.

, Private Equity Associate at , and , Legal Counsel at  were invited to deliver a keynote talk on their experiences of working in-house and in private practice. The conversation was chaired by Flex Legal鈥檚 , and all of the information in this article was taken from points presented in Katie and Chris鈥 talk.

The basic differences between in-house and private practice

To kick things off, let鈥檚 start with the basics. An in-house legal professional is employed by the organisation they give legal advice to. Say, for example, you are a lawyer working in-house for A Very Cool Company Ltd, you would advise A Very Cool Company Ltd on their presumably very cool business dealings.

Conversely, a private practice legal professional is employed by a law firm who offers their services to clients. Those law firms effectively charge out their lawyers and paralegals to different organisations, meaning those legal professionals could have multiple different clients. For instance, if you were a private practice lawyer working for A Particularly Groovy Law Firm LLP, you might spend half of your week working for Client A, and the other half working for Client B. This split can vary from workplace to workplace, however.

The cultural differences between in-house and private practice

Another big thing to consider is the nuanced cultural differences between both working environments. The way that you interact with your clients 鈥 whether that鈥檚 your direct employer or multiple external organisations 鈥 can carry a surprisingly big impact on how legal working lives can actually look. Each and every workplace will vary significantly, but there are some broad cultural commonalities that might help you decide which environment is right for you.

In-house workplace culture:

When you work in-house, you鈥檒l typically work with the same team and see the same faces every day. Say you鈥檙e an in-house lawyer for A Very Cool Company Ltd, you鈥檒l live and breathe everything A Very Cool Company Ltd do. Your work will focus on the business and take place within larger Very Cool business strategies. Think of this as there being more of a 鈥渇amily feel鈥. If your colleagues need advice and you鈥檙e in the office, they鈥檒l probably just walk up to your desk and ask you directly! This means that interactions are typically faster paced and more 鈥渂elly to belly鈥. If you like the thought of having a regular desk, getting to know your colleagues long-term, and working collaboratively towards shared company objectives, in-house might just suit you.

Private practice workplace culture:

On the flipside, if you鈥檙e working in private practice for A Particularly Groovy Law Firm LLP, you鈥檒l spend less time in one team. You could move around from office to office, objective to objective, and meet a lot of different people. Your work will accordingly be more varied, and you鈥檒l encounter new workloads and fresh challenges regularly. Whilst this does mean your work won鈥檛 always be Particularly Groovy, there are a few clear benefits to working in private practice. First of all, by dipping into more varied workloads you鈥檒l likely pick up new skills and develop into a more well-rounded lawyer. Secondly, by moving from client to client, you鈥檒l simply get more opportunities to meet new people and expand your network. If you like the thought of meeting a lot of people, having a good variety of work coming your way, and always solving new and interesting problems, private practice could be what you鈥檙e looking for.

Which offers better legal training - In-house or private practice?

If you鈥檙e reading this, you might be thinking about whether you鈥檇 prefer to train in-house or in private practice. The honest truth is that it鈥檚 important not to pigeon-hole yourself. Training in private practice doesn鈥檛 mean you couldn鈥檛 work in-house. What matters is the kind of training and experience you actually receive. Fortunately, it鈥檚 easier than you鈥檇 think to figure out which kind of training contract is right for you.

How do training contracts actually work?

Before we get started, let鈥檚 break down how training contracts are typically structured in case you don鈥檛 know. A legal training contract takes two years, which are broken down into placements in a number of 鈥渟eats鈥. A 鈥渟eat鈥 is essentially just a jargon word for a different legal practice area or department, and most training contracts break these down into four six-month seats. Quite often, at least one of these will be a 鈥渟econdment鈥 where you鈥檒l go and work with an external client company or perhaps even another law firm. The type of seats, secondments, and experience you鈥檒l be offered will vary widely from firm to firm, company to company. So it鈥檚 important to know how to figure out which works for you.

How to figure out which training contract is right for you

A seemingly simple (but very valuable) piece of advice we would encourage you to take is be bold enough to ask lots of questions! When applying and interviewing, it鈥檚 easy to forget how important it is to make sure the potential workplace is the right fit for you. Remember, training is a two-way street, and it鈥檚 just as important that your training opportunity is as right for you as you are for it. If you want to know about the types of seats available, the secondments you could be sent on, the diversity of work you鈥檒l be offered, the structure of the teams, or even what kind of post-training opportunities are available, then ask! This shows initiative, and more importantly informs you in detail about the training opportunity you鈥檙e looking at.

The legal industry is all too often built on prestige and big names. We would encourage you to separate yourself from this archaic ideology. The type of experience you receive on your training contract is infinitely more important than the name of the firm or company you train at. Take a step back and think about which training experience you would prefer to have. Would you rather spend your two-years photocopying, or would you rather get hands-on, applicable experience in a collaborative environment that saw you become a more well-rounded lawyer as a result? We think the answer is fairly obvious. Have a think about what experience you specifically would like to get, and don鈥檛 be afraid to ask questions about the work and training you鈥檒l actually be exposed to.

Additional Resources:

  •  - if you liked this write up, why not sign-up for an upcoming Virtual Lunch event? They鈥檙e free to attend and cover a fresh topic each month!
  •  - maybe the Training Contract route isn鈥檛 for you, and you鈥檝e got your sights set on the SQE. If so, take a look at our explanatory blog post for anything you might have missed.
  •  - there鈥檚 every chance you鈥檝e heard about the importance of 鈥榖eing commercial鈥. Take a look here if you aren鈥檛 100% sure what this means.

Professional development and networking for junior lawyers - join today

Have you heard of our Aspire programme? Aspire is a free networking and professional development group for in-house lawyers in the early stages of their legal career. We understand that starting as an in- house lawyer may not be the same as a junior law firm and you may not have a team of other lawyers to turn to for advice, this is why we are passionate about supporting each other to succeed by providing a forum and running regular networking events to share experiences and ideas and sharpen our legal and commercial skills.

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About the author:

Sophie is Head of Learning & Development at F-LEX Legal - an award winning legal tech startup helping law firms and organisations manage a flexible work force and supporting lawyers to make smarter life/work choices.聽

As part of her portfolio career Sophie runs various learning and development and networking forums for in-house lawyers and mentors junior lawyers.聽 These include Flying Solo for small and solo legal teams and Aspire for junior in-house lawyers which she runs for 老司机午夜福利 UK.聽 She also works with schools and organisations to promote social mobility within the legal profession, working with The Social Mobility Business Partnership and Aspiring Solicitors.聽

She trained as a lawyer in the City and worked as an in-house lawyer for 10 years including as Head of Legal for Virgin Radio and Ginger Media Group.聽聽

Outside of work she is happily married with three sons and enjoys morning walks along the beach with her two dogs.