The Bounce Back

The Great Rebound? Why are In House Lawyers heading back to Private Practice

A developing trend of the past 12 months has been the increased desire from In House Solicitors g to move back into Private Practice. Here we ask ourselves, what is the reason behind the Great Rebound?

Salary:

The salary increases across the Private Practice market are well publicised with some firms reviewing (and increasing) their junior associate pay no less than three times in 2022. Companies with an In House legal team, with less of an eye on this salary war, may have been caught napping or unable to compete with a dynamically changing market.

Up until 2021 practice lawyers, particularly at Associate level, could secure a higher package than in practice by moving In House - this is now far less likely.

There is no doubt that the extent of the increases in practice, especially at a time of a cost of living crisis, has had a direct impact on In House lawyers returning to practice.

Flexible Working:

In House opportunities, pre pandemic, often had one significant edge – flexible working. Now, with law firms offering hybrid and home working, that competitive advantage has, for now, disappeared. Equally with the increased need for talent, firms have been far more flexible in offering part-time opportunities. This seismic change in working practices, that few saw coming in 2020, has again levelled the playing field and made a move back to practice more attractive.

Evolving demand in In House Teams:

Often a move In House is about contributing on strategic decisions, seeing the impact of your work more closely, and being valued in your own right. Whilst this will still be on offer within many In House legal departments, as these teams grow, so do the internal processes and to the detriment of the aforementioned commercial freedoms.

The impact has been legal departments being run not too dissimilarly to their private practice counterparts, and, on occasion, in an environment that operates less meritocratically and where the path to promotion can be more opaque. In addition, within many ‘larger’ In House legal teams, some junior lawyers we have spoken to have found work can often be repetitive or unchallenging,

Sector Pressures:

With the economy in flux, the pressure across different sectors have created resourcing problems and conversely, job security issues and as such creating pressures that can be alleviated by returning to cross sector teams in practice. We have seen a significant increase in those coming from retail, media and manufacturing sectors looking to either move sector or back into private practice.

It remains to be seen if Private Practice can maintain higher salary levels, continue to offer flexible working or indeed weather a recession, however at present, it is clear that Private Practice is reclaiming ground on the In House market.