New York Lawyer
August 7, 2003

Q:
I am a second-year corporate associate in a very large law firm in New York City. I have an ample amount of work and while I work late hours every night, I am not miserable about my job (not elated either, mind you).

Recently, I have received a call about an in-house junior counsel opportunity at a prestigious company. I am wondering whether, as a second-year associate, it is the right time to leave my firm. I don't have any illusions about making partner and my plan was always to leave after three to five years and work in-house.

Are in-house counsel opportunities so rare these days that I should jump ship this early on or is there never really a "right time" to leave the law firm?

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A:

My feeling is that if you can find work that you enjoy, you should pursue it avidly. Whether there is really a perfect time to leave a law firm or not (building up some expertise in a particular area is a good idea before bowing out) certainly finding work that you are enthusiastic about is an essential ingredient for long-term success along with satisfaction. I can�t tell you how many people I know who, in mid life, suddenly woke up and realized they�ve been doing work that they simply don�t like. They got involved in a particular practice area at an early stage of their career and somewhat mindlessly continued with it. While they can pile up successes and make a lot of money, they wind up disillusioned with their work because there�s no true passion fueling it. And they also find it�s far from easy to switch course mid-stream.

Now, mind you, it�s not always possible for people to truly follow their passion. For instance, if you desperately want to write scripts for a TV show with a legal theme, you might have to develop it on a parallel track while you kept your day job. The admonition to �follow your bliss� isn�t limitless, especially when there are bills to pay, and eventually families to support and mortgages to pay.

But this option hardly falls into the category of starving artist mode. If you can lift your job satisfaction significantly by going inhouse, at not too tremendous a cut in pay, I�d go for it, especially if you admire the company involved. Doing work you like for an organization you respect is a dream scenario.

Sincerely,
Holly English
Principal Consultant, Values at Work