5 Mindset Shifts Every Ex–Law Firm Lawyer Needs In-House

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Deep Dive

Same Job, Very Different Approach

One of the most common paths to an in-house legal role is to start at a firm. We were sold on the idea of getting great training, while making a sizeable paycheck, and figuring out what types of law we really enjoy.

Much of what we learned in our law firm jobs still serves us well. We put in high reps in our specialty—enough that we can negotiate reps and warranties, answer discovery requests, or close deals in our sleep. We learned what excellent client service looks like, both from delivering it ourselves and watching senior partners do it. We learned through formal, well-thought-out training. And we learned to chase excellence like it was the only standard worth hitting.

All of those lessons are valuable. Applied correctly, they will continue to help you as an in-house lawyer.

But the job you have now is not the job you had then.

In a firm, you were a specialist. Now you’re likely a generalist. In a firm, your role was to spot and advise the client on how to mitigate every conceivable legal risk. In-house, you’re expected to balance risk against speed, cost, and business priorities, and sometimes to intentionally take risks. In a firm, “client service” meant making the client happy. In-house, your “client” is the business itself, and sometimes that means telling individual stakeholders “no” or “not that way” (which does not make them happy).

If you don’t adjust your thinking and your approach, you’ll work harder than you need to, frustrate your colleagues, and maybe worst of all, slow the business down. But if you do, you can use what you learned at a firm—plus your tailored approach to law now that you’re in-house—to drive impact and to thrive.

More Hours ≠ More Value

At a law firm, more hours almost always mean more value.

Bill 2,000 hours, you’re solid. Bill 2,500, you’re a star. Your worth to the firm is directly tied to how much time you spend on client work, because time is the product.

In-house is a totally different game.

Here, your value isn’t measured by hours. It’s measured by outcomes. The in-house lawyer who works 20 hours a week but drives meaningful progress on high-impact goals can be worth far more to the company than the one burning through 100 hours a week on low-priority projects.

Once you really get that, everything shifts.

You start to see that choosing what to work on is just as important as how well you do it. If you’re spending your time on things that don’t move the needle for the business, you’re not adding much value, no matter how many hours you pour in or how technically perfect the work product is.

You also start to appreciate that efficiency is a competitive advantage. Getting to the same (or better) result faster frees you up for other work, which over time has the potential to massively compound your impact.

Because in-house, the goal isn’t to be the lawyer who works the most. It’s to be the lawyer who makes the most meaningful things happen.

Perfect Isn’t Always The Best Goal

In a law firm, perfection is the default setting.

Every brief, every contract, every memo gets scrutinized and polished until it gleams. That’s partly about client service, partly about professional pride—and partly because that’s what the client is paying for. If the client has the budget and patience for “perfect,” there’s no reason not to deliver it.  And at Big Law rates, the end result better be darn near perfect every time.

But in-house, it’s a different calculus.

Here, “perfect” isn’t always the most valuable outcome. Sometimes, chasing perfection slows a deal that needs to close yesterday. Or it burns through hours of legal time—yours, your team’s, outside counsel’s—that could be better spent on higher-impact work.

That doesn’t mean standards go out the window. Sometimes you do need “perfect”:

• The board presentation going into the permanent record.

• The SEC filing that will be picked apart by regulators.

• The precedent-setting contract everyone will copy for the next five years.

But other times, “good enough” really is good enough:

• A one-off vendor NDA where the relationship matters more than the clause-by-clause battle.

• A quick policy update that’s going to be rewritten in six months anyway.

• An internal email explaining a low-stakes compliance change.

The skill is learning to calibrate your effort to the context.

Before you dive into a task, ask:

• Who is the audience?

• What’s the real risk if something isn’t perfect?

• How long will this work product be relevant?

Sometimes, you’ll land on “perfect.” Other times, you’ll land on “done well enough and out the door quickly.” Both answers can be right.  What matters is making the choice intentionally.

Because in-house, your job is to get the right things exactly right, and get the rest done well-enough, fast enough to keep the business moving forward. Not every task has to be perfect. And sometimes, aiming for “perfection” can cause you to miss a more important priority.

Relationships Matter. But Differently.

At a law firm, partners own the client relationship. They’re the ones taking the general counsel to lunch, flying out for pitch meetings, and making sure the client stays happy enough to keep sending work. Associates may do excellent legal work, but maintaining the client relationship usually isn’t on their formal job description.

In-house is a whole different story.

Here, the “client” is the business—and the business isn’t going anywhere. You’re not competing for their billable hours. You don’t have to “win” their work. In that sense, the work is captive.

But that doesn’t mean relationships stop mattering. They just matter differently.

Because in-house, the quality of your relationships with the business directly determines how effective you can be. If people trust you, they’ll loop you in early, listen to your advice, and come back to you before small issues turn into big problems. If they don’t, you may find out about the new product launch when it’s already live on the website.

And unlike in a firm, where relationship management is largely one partner’s job, here it’s everyone’s job. Every member of the legal team shapes the business’s perception of legal—whether you’re the GC or the most junior lawyer.

That means every interaction matters:

• The way you deliver tough news about a deal-killer clause.

• How quickly you respond when someone needs a gut check.

• Whether you ask thoughtful questions in meetings that show you care about more than just the legal angle.

In-house, relationship management is woven into everything you do. The stronger your connections across the business, the more influence you’ll have, and the easier it will be to do your job well.

So yes, the work is captive. But the access isn’t. People can choose to involve you early or late, to see you as a strategic partner or a necessary hurdle. Which one they choose depends a lot on how well you’ve built the relationship.

You Need To Know the Law . . . And The Business

In a law firm, your job is to be the legal expert. You’re brought in for your deep knowledge of statutes, regulations, and case law. The business context matters, but usually only enough to shape the legal advice. If you know the law cold and apply it correctly, you’ve done your job.*

In-house, that’s only half the job.

Here, you’re not just giving legal advice—you’re giving business advice informed by the law. The best in-house lawyers are trusted because they can see the whole chessboard: the market conditions, the company’s goals, the personalities involved, the financial implications—and then apply the law in a way that moves the business forward.

That’s why learning the business isn’t optional. It’s core to your role.

The better you understand how your company makes money, how it serves its customers, and what its leaders are trying to achieve, the more relevant—and actionable—your advice becomes. You stop sounding like a lawyer who drops memos over the wall, and start sounding like a business partner who happens to have legal expertise.

That shift changes everything:

• Instead of saying, “The regulation prohibits X,” you can say, “We can’t do X, but here’s an alternative that still meets the business goal.”

• Instead of flagging risks in isolation, you can help weigh them against revenue potential, brand reputation, or competitive advantage.

• Instead of being the department of “no,” you can become the department of “here’s how.”

Getting there takes intention. It means sitting in on product demos, asking questions in finance meetings, reading the investor reports, grabbing coffee with colleagues in sales or operations. It means listening more than you talk—at least at first—and being curious about everything from your company’s supply chain to its sales funnel.

Because the truth is, in-house legal advice is rarely just legal advice. It’s a blend. The more you understand the business side of the blend, the more valuable you become.

*Every time I say something like this, a law firm lawyer chimes in to say that the best law firm lawyers also know the business cold. I agree that the exceptional ones do, but I also think it is possible to be successful and highly effective with less depth of business understanding than is required for in-house lawyers.

These Shifts Are Key to Success & Fun!

Making the leap from law firm to in-house is more than a change in title and employer. To do it successfully, it needs to include a change in how you think about your work.

You’re no longer measured by hours, but by impact. Perfection isn’t always the goal—progress is. Relationships aren’t owned by a single rainmaker—they’re everyone’s responsibility. And knowing the business is just as important as knowing the law.

The sooner you embrace those shifts, the faster you’ll go from “former law firm lawyer” to trusted, high-impact in-house partner.

Because the best in-house lawyers are more than legal experts. They’re strategic, efficient, and deeply connected to the business they serve. And that’s where the real value—and the real fun—lives.