I am a trainee at a leading national firm. I have an extensive background in the sports industry and I am looking for a role in sports law. I have an NQ offer from my firm in our sports group but also an offer to go in-house at leading sports club.
What are the disadvantages of going in-house? Will I be able to move back to private practice in the future should I decide in-house is not for me?
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Congrats on both offers!
I would say, given the choice, stay with your firm and move in-house at 2 years PQE or so. This will avoid any awkward questions in the future about why you didn't stay with your firm etc., as well as broadening your legal skills so that you will be a more well rounded lawyer when you do eventually move.
Go in-house, you can wear tracksuits to work.
If you move in-house now, it will be difficult to get back to private practice. If you have at least a couple of years PQE before going in-house then it is easier to return. But if you are thinking seriously about the in-house offer then perhaps you are not taken that much by private practice. How many of the solicitors at your current firm enjoy their jobs? Will you be the only lawyer in-house? At NQ I would want some back-up. There is a lot you won't yet know, even with a background in the field.
How about suggesting to the club that they take you as a secondee, which gives them access to the full weight of the national firm's other expertise, plus 100% of your time? This could be very good for the firm too.
I believe that I am more effective in-house having done several years private practice first, but you also have to consider how scarce opportunities in house at clubs may be(are they rare? I can't recall seeing many advertisements for this area). From your post, it doesn't seem this is your "once in a lifetime dream job", so would tend to agree with other posters and favour some private practice experience first if you can't get the best of both worlds.
Go with your firm - apart from the reasons already given, you may find that you don't like sports law in practice (unlikely though it may seem to you now) and working at a firm will keep more doors open. It will also give you greater flexibility in a downturn. Finally, rightly or wrongly, some people treat your pqe clock as stopping when you go in-house. Pay rises therefore tend to be inflation-based rather than life-changing, something that may not mean much now but may hurt in 6 or 7 years time when your contemporaries are looking at partnership. The ideal level to go is probably 4-5 years qualified, when you have plenty of experience, and a better salary but aren't considered over the hill.
I went in-house at six months PQE and stayed in-house for six years before going to a law firm for just over two years. I enjoyed being in-house but in hindsight, feel that I would have got better experience if I had stayed in private practice. However, going in-house won't harm your chances of going back to private practice - you pick up skills that you just don't get in private practice - or not to the same extent and as such you are very valuable. When I was in private practice there were quite a few lawyers who had spent time in-hosue either on secondment or employed. Ultimately, I'd take the job you think you'd enjoy more and not worry too much about the future - a lot can happen!
Hate to be boring and go with the crowd but I agree with everyone who says it's best to get a few years under your belt first in private practice. You will never get the same breadth of experience in-house
Hmmm, I'm not sure that you suffer from not getting a breadth of experience in-house. I think the main issue is that you don't learn some of the technical skills that you would learn in private practice - for example, contract drafting. Yes you do it in-house, but in my experience you learn more in private practice about what needs to go in a contract. I certainly had a steep learning curve when I returned to private practice from my six years in-house. From a negotiation perspective, you probably do better in-house. In other ways I was ahead of my PQE peers. So it depends on what experience you want - and need.
Sounds like you're just showing off to me. I don't think Mansfield Town are a leading sports club anyway.
I have a son??? I knew I should have been more careful with my intra-office affairs. I officially disown him, pls post "Illegitimate son of Investment Banker"
sorry Pops. Mum says hi.
Investment Banker should pay more attention to detail. it poster may be a girl, he/she didnt declare his/her gender...
Your tea's getting cold and your room needs tidying. come home now. don't make me get a cab to your office.
You need to think seriously about what kind of job you want. In-house and private practice are very different roles and the move will be a culture shock. Remember that in house with a leading club = general commercial lawyer in a sports environment, so you will need to be confident covering a multitude of areas. Commercial nous is important so your industry experience should give you an advantage, but technical (legal) support is likely to be minimal. Do you have the confidence to deal with problems outside your comfort zone when you don’t know where to start, there’s no friendly associate to ask, and you don’t have a budget to ask a law firm every 5 mins? As for getting back into private practice, I think you’d struggle until you are at GC level. You will become very commercially savvy but technical skills will likely diminish, so think about how would you sell yourself to get back into a firm? Oh yes, and don’t go in house for the money. Unless you hate it in private practice I’d wait a couple of years and then look for that dream job.
Thank you for your time and comments - all things considered, it seems that PP is the way to make sure I have the best opportunities in the future.
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