Traditionally, many firm lawyers saw the opportunity to move into an in-house role as a much greener pasture. The idea that you only have one client and there is no billable hour mandate does seem very appealing. But that over-the-fence view may be somewhat browner with the ever-growing responsibilities and pressures being placed on legal department leaders.

Case in point, over the last few months we have seen a trend of more GCs moving back into firm life. To get some additional insight on this, we wanted to talk with someone who really understands the role of today’s legal department leader and also made that decision to leave the GC role to go back into private practice. Sterling Miller, who after serving as general counsel at Travelocity, Sabre Corp., and the software company, Marketo Inc., recently joined Hilgers Graben as senior counsel in Dallas, focusing on litigation, data privacy and regulatory law. Along with his blog, called “Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel,” Miller has published widely. A forthcoming book from the American Bar Association is called, “Showing the Value of the Legal Department: Everything You Need to Know.”