Corporations: In-House Counsel
A corporate law department can best be described as a law firm with only one client: the corporation. One advantage of this type of practice is that the corporate lawyer can become familiar with the workings and business style of his/her own industry. He /she can also become an integral part of the corporate management team and be involved in compliance work, negotiation and mediation. This comprehensive client relationship can be very satisfying.
Not all corporations generate sufficient legal work to maintain an in-house counsel. Yet, many corporations do maintain in-house counsel to handle some or all of the legal issues which arise. The number of attorneys employed by a corporation varies with the size of the corporation and the product or service it sells.
Practice in a corporation compares favorably in terms of salary and benefits to practice in a law firm. There is often more flexibility in hours, increased mobility and broader career options. With the rising costs of outside counsel, corporations have b een looking increasingly to their legal staff to solve more of their legal problems. This trend has made the job of corporate counsel an interesting, challenging and desirable position.
Both small companies and corporations with large legal departments may hire legal interns for the summer, although few have formal second-year summer programs. Most companies, however, choose to hire laterally for permanent positions. Corporate legal departments usually do not have training programs for new attorneys and therefore, prefer to hire lawyers with several years experience.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES FOR CORPORATIONS
BEST RESOURCES:
·Directory of Corporate Counsel. Aspen Law and Business Publication. Two Volume set containing information regarding legal departments in more than 7000 major U.S. and Canadian corporations and non-profit organizations.
·Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory-All Corporate Legal Departments. Lists U.S. corporate law departments, including name, address, branches, corporate profile, and biographies of attorneys.
·LEXIS-NEXIS The NEXIS General News and Business Library contains full text articles from several hundred leading news and business sources and trade publications, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
·Corporate Yellow Book. Lists who's who at the leading U.S. companies. See also www.leadershipdirectories.com.
·The National Directory of Women Corporate Counsel. A publication of Fulcrum Information Services listing thousands of women corporate counsel with contact information. The directory contains sections which present the names sorted by state, company, law school and practice area.
·Fortune 500 database and New England In-house Counsel database available in the in the Career Services Folder on the computers in the Career Services Resource Library.
·Alumni Career Network, Boston College Law School. This Network is composed of BC Law graduates who have volunteered to offer career guidance to students through informational interviewing. The information is available on the Alumni Career Network file fou nd in the Career Services Folder on the computers in the Career Resource Library. Remember, Network members are to be contacted for information purposes only, not for jobs.
·Boston College Law School Alumni Directory, Alumni Office, Barat House
·The Boston College Law School Career Services Web Site contains links to over 300 websites many of which contain job postings and information concerning in-house positions.
ALSO TRY:
·Hoover's Handbook of American Business. Lists profiles of over 750 major U.S. companies and name of General Counsel where applicable. See also www. hoovers.com.
·Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies-a compilation of hard-to-find facts regarding 800 of the largest and most influential enterprises in the U.S.
·Hoover's Handbook of World Business-a compilation of information regarding many of the largest and most influential global enterprises.
·WESTLAW. The following databases contain information relevant to research on corporations:
West's Legal Directory-Corporate Counsel
DIALOG: Contains information directories, business information, and national and regional newspapers.
Specialized Databases:
American Business Directory
Standard & Poor's Register
PTS Annual Reports Abstracts
Dun Bradstreet Information Services On-Line Service