In recent years, as firms adopted more corporate management practices and then drastically downsized, a result of the Great Recession, in-house legal positions became the hot ticket for many attorneys. Company jobs looked particularly attractive to associates bogged down by crushing billable hour requirements. It’s not hard to see why: Law departments offered the promise of better work/life balance and the opportunity to become more involved in a client’s business.
But as workloads continue to rise and hiring and budget increases don’t necessarily keep pace, is the pressure inside the nation’s legal departments now rivaling that of firms? Daniel DiLucchio Jr., a principal of Altman Weil Inc., has been a consultant to both corporate law departments and firms for more than 25 years, and he gives a qualified yes. “The workloads I see in-house are growing,” he says. “They’re getting pretty high.”
