When Justin Grad went to the University of Iowa‘s law school, he wanted to land a job at a prestigious firm and get on the lucrative partnership track.
Upon graduating in 2009, he did go on to practice corporate law at Latham & Watkins‘ Orange County, California, office. Grad was involved in mergers and acquisitions and capital market work and was “running my own deals.” He loved his job, but 80-hour-plus weeks were not conducive to spending time with his family.
So in 2014, Grad shifted gears into a position as corporate counsel at Amazon in Seattle, where he could indulge his interest in technology and aim for a better work-life balance.
He’s found the right mix at Amazon, where he is providing legal, compliance and development-related support for Kindle products and associated services. Grad feels he is staying challenged and likes the small team-based practice approach he’s found at the company.
For many young attorneys, the in-house choice has become an increasingly common route.
“Corporate legal departments are expanding their teams to bring more work in-house and reduce spending on outside counsel,” notes the Robert Half Legal “2016 Salary Guide for the Legal Field.” Companies want people “who can handle a wide range of business-related legal matters, including expansion into new products and markets, executive compensation, and labor and employment disputes.”
Amar Sarwal, vice president and chief legal strategist at the Association of Corporate Counsel, has advice for law school students thinking about in-house careers: Take some business courses.
[Discover 10 diverse careers for law school graduates.]
Companies want attorneys who are not afraid of math, “are business-minded and who can manage teams,” he says.
Three-quarters of in-house lawyers in the U.S. earn a base salary between $100,000 and $299,000; half of these earn less than $200,000, according to the association’s “2015 ACC Global Census.”
While many attorneys who make the jump from a law firm to a company can expect a pay cut as a trade-off for enjoying the better hours, Grad says he lucked out with his job change; Amazon’s offer was on the generous side. For many in-house attorneys, part of the compensation package comes in the form of company stock.
Over time, Grad says, “one can win big or lose big.”
[See median starting salaries for J.D. grads.]
Prospective lawyers can also explore other in-demand or emerging fields.
— Health care attorney: Robert Half Legal, one of the nation’s largest legal staffing companies, forecasts that lawyers with health care expertise will find their skills in high demand by government agencies, medical providers and law firms involved with issues tied to medical research, Medicare fraud and health care implementation. Government projections put job growth for health care attorneys at 23 percent through 2024.
— Data privacy attorney: Cyberattacks and privacy breaches are increasingly top of mind for companies, governments and other entities and so are changes in state and federal regulatory law that are being made to address these challenges. Charles Volkert, executive director of Robert Half Legal, notes that attorneys entering this in-demand practice area are receiving increases of 5 to 7 percent over the average base salaries seen by their peers.
— Regulated substances specialist: ArcView Market Research reports that U.S. legal cannabis market sales grew from $4.6 billion to $5.4 billion in 2015, driving expansion of law firms’ regulated substances practices and even stand-alone cannabis specialties. So far, mostly regional or smaller firms have ventured into advising clients ranging from growers and dispensers to security firms. But big law is also eyeing the potential.
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News “Best Graduate Schools 2017” guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
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