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What’s luring in-house lawyers back to private practice?
A new report has identified the key reasons more senior in-house lawyers are making the switch back to private practice.
Emma Musgrave
According to Mahlab’s latest Roundtable Briefing, there are an increasing number of senior in-house legal professionals electing to return to private practice, citing career advancement opportunities and increased remuneration as among their key motivations.
“The transition back into private practice from a corporate environment is less common and comes with many of its own challenges.”
Other key motivators for making the switch back include the “opportunity to refresh, sharpen and hone legal skills”, which was deemed more attractive in private practice, and the notion that “the flat structure of in-house was fine to a point, but the lack of support and ability to mentor more junior lawyers made career progression more challenging”.
“In particular, participants observed that law firms are now much more commercially-focused, which can be attractive during negotiations to return,” the Mahlab managing directors noted.
“However, some participants also noted that the commercial piece could easily be lost among the drive for billables and meeting budget targets.
“... Ultimately, lawyers must make the right decision for them given their unique set of motivations, whether that be career progression, professional development or personal reasons,” they said.
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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