Thinking about working "in-house"? Here are some things you might not know, and will be happy you learned before you start.

(1) Don't bother buying a lot of suits. In-house counsel wear a suit on two very specific occasions, (a) when they go to court, and (b) when a co-worker gets married/passes away. If you have nice pants and button down shirts, you need not blow that summer student-loan at Jos. A. Banks.

(2) You will not have to "bill" your hours. You'll hear all about your friends frantically trying to "bill" every 6 minutes of work they do this summer. Not you, you have one client, and every minute of every day you work is presumed to be for that client (not blogging, for instance).

(3) You will get a taste of everything. Most in-house attorneys have to be versatile. They have to be able to work on an employment dispute one day, a slip-and-fall the next, and then a breach-of-contract claim the third. They have to be prepared to work within the laws of Tennessee, and then an hour later, Missouri. The larger the company, the more jurisdictions you dip into.

(4) Learn both Lexis and Westlaw. Most places use one or the other. I have had the misfortune of being an avid Westlaw user only to find that Lexis is the research tool of choice at my job. You think its not a big deal, but trying to keep up with the workload and learn a new research method is tough. (this is just a generic tip for you soon-to-be law clerks)

(5) People prefer to be called by the first names. You're not dealing with high-roller big-wig attorneys. They are great lawyers who generally decided that the 2,200 hours of billing per year wasn't for them. I have all the respect for their legal backgrounds, education, experience, etc. They are professionals to the bitter-end, but just call him Edward.

(6) The attorneys that are in-house have the best jobs in the legal community. They work hard. They earn their keep. But at the end of the day, their life doesn't begin and end in the office.  It is still a law job. Don't let anyone tell you its "cushy" or a "breeze". The hours are still there. The case load is still there. They just work for the client full time, not 1.6 hours per day.

Stay Tuned...