How to Avoid the In-House Ax--and Recover, If It Falls
As law firm layoffs become relatively commonplace news, it isn’t just attorneys in private practice who are nervously wondering where the ax might fall next. In-house lawyers are at risk of losing their jobs, too—and likely will have more trouble finding new corporate jobs, compared to their law firm colleagues.
To stay out of firing range, in-house counsel need to make themselves indispensable—and make sure as many people as possible in their companies understand and appreciate their value, advises a former law firm partner who is now a legal consultant. And, if they are the ones let go, it is important to plan for a job search that is as effective as possible, writes Frank Michael D’Amore in a Legal Intelligencer article that is reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
Ideally, a job search should start well before the ax falls. And, whatever you do, try not to appear anxious, he recommends. “Be low-key and do not betray any desperation, even if it fills your every pore. You simply want to get your credentials in front of a recruiter so that he can keep you in mind should an appropriate opening arise.”
Those looking for work after losing a job should be realistic, D’Amore says, and should pursue law firm as well as corporate options from the outset, since it likely will be more difficult to land another in-house position. Applicants can improve their chances of getting a law firm job by negotiating a severance package that provides for portable business to bring to the firm, in exchange for a lesser amount of severance pay, he suggests.
For example, if a lawyer might bill at $400 an hour in private practice and need $360,000 in business to cover half of his or her billable hours expectations, while earning $200,000 annually. Under those circumstances, it might be worthwhile trading away six months of severance pay worth $125,000 in exchange for a promise of business the first year and an expectation of business the second year, he writes.
“Most firms strike two-year deals for lawyers making this type of move back to private practice. Are you better off getting $400,000 of compensation over two years in a law firm or $125,000 in severance, with the prospect of collecting unemployment if no other opportunity arises in the next year or even longer?”
