The Value of Expert Legal Recruitment in Financial Services

In an increasingly competitive and technology-led job market, the value of using a recruitment agency is often overlooked. However, for legal professionals in the financial services sector, working with a recruiter can significantly streamline the process and consequently your career path. Whether you’re a lawyer seeking a new opportunity or an employer in financial services looking to fill a key legal role, partnering with a specialist recruitment firm, like Fry & Brown, can make a world of difference.

Expertise in Financial Services

One of the key reasons to work with a recruiter is their deep understanding of the niche market they serve. At Fry & Brown, we specialise in placing UK and common law qualified lawyers in financial services organisations such as banks, insurance companies, asset managers, fintechs and other boutique-regulated companies. We don’t work across multiple industries but are deeply focused on one – financial services. This allows us to truly understand the intricacies of the roles, the skills required, and the unique demands that financial institutions place on legal professionals.

Financial services firms have complex regulatory and legal needs and using a recruitment firm specialising in this sector ensures you won’t waste time if you have the necessary expertise or fit. Help understanding where your skills best align in a rapidly evolving sector allows you to make better-informed decisions.

Access to Hidden Opportunities

Some of the best jobs in financial services may not be advertised on job boards or company websites. They’re often filled by introductions or existing relationships before needing to go to the wider market. Sometimes there is no job at all until an opportunity is created or adapted for a great candidate. And some employers don’t want their vacancies advertised due to confidentiality, sensitivity or the senior nature of the role. A recruiter can help tap into this hidden pool of opportunities and make introductions through extensive networks. Rather than relying on job postings, a recruitment agency with a solid network can introduce you to roles that may not be publicly advertised.

Time-Saving Efficiency

Working with a recruiter means quicker access to roles specifically tailored to your expertise and career aspirations instead of spending hours browsing through job listings.

The recruitment process can be overwhelming but by working with a recruiter you ensure that your time is spent only on relevant opportunities. Before you start you can understand both the state of the market and your market value, with the recruiter then ready to help guide you through the complexities of the hiring process.

Market Insight

Gaining valuable insight into the job market is one of the main advantages of using a recruitment agency. A recruiter will provide you with up-to-date information on salary expectations, trends in the legal market, and the evolving demands of the financial services industry. This knowledge is crucial for candidates who want to understand how their skills and experience match up to the current market.

Application Feedback

The biggest frustration we hear from our candidates is the lack of feedback they receive following making an application for an in-house role, especially when applying through LinkedIn. It is often described as a blackhole and sometimes you don’t even know if your application has been looked at or received. Although it can be difficult for lawyers to chase for feedback, recruiters will often have direct lines for HR and hiring managers and will not jeopardise anything by being persistent.

Applying through a recruiter means there is someone accountable for providing feedback, and whilst recruiters can also struggle to get this information from clients, finding a specialist legal recruiter who has deep relationships with fewer clients makes getting constructive and quality feedback much more likely. At Fry & Brown, we endeavour to get detailed feedback following every interview and give insights as to why for those who aren’t selected for interview. We will be honest in providing both positive and negative feedback giving you the opportunity to improve, something you won’t always get from a direct interview.

Recruiters provide most of the value during the interview process, we will usually know the people who will be interviewing you and the wider legal team members. We know the hiring process and what our clients are looking for as well as who else is in the running. You can use your recruiter for interview practice, to learn about the format of the interview and to advise on the best way to sell yourself.

Salary Negotiation

Recruiters also provide guidance on the package negotiation process, ensuring that candidates secure fair compensation and that employers offer attractive packages to top talent. Help navigating salary negotiations can be particularly useful if an offer comes in low, or if one part of the package is particularly important to you at the expense of another. Conversations around compensation can be awkward; no one wants to go back and forth too many times and you don’t want to jeopardise an offer for a job that you really want. Using a recruiter as the middleman means you can push for the best package available without the risk of altering the client’s opinion of you.

Using a legal recruiter enables applicants to ask uncomfortable questions that they may not want to ask an employer directly. This may be around the personalities in the team, reasons for people leaving, culture, promotion and career prospects, maternity leave and any rumours they may have heard. You will get your questions answered by the employer and an honest insight from the recruiter based on previous placements and institutional knowledge.

Long-Term Relationships

A good legal recruiter doesn’t just fill vacancies, they work to build a long-term relationship with clients and candidates. At Fry & Brown, we focus on understanding your long-term goals as a lawyer seeking to take the next step in your career. This relationship means you have an expert on hand to offer advice whenever you need it. It is also more likely that you might get a call out of the blue about that perfect opportunity if they know and remember you.

Bringing it all Together

Ultimately, using a recruiter is about gaining market knowledge, saving time, accessing opportunities and then acing the process. For both clients and candidates, working with a recruitment agency that specialises in financial services law ensures the placements are more likely to last and the candidate will thrive in the unique financial services environment.

Whether you’re looking to grow your team or take the next step in your professional journey, a recruitment agency can provide the insight and connections needed for success. If you’re eager to advance your career and are seeking support along the way, we invite you to reach out to us. Don’t hesitate to get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!

Dec 2024

Last month, we hosted an engaging panel discussion at The Lawyer Events General Counsel Strategy Summit.

The subject in question was ‘how to make your team more commercially minded’.

Thank you to our insightful panel members Ailsa Longmuir, Luis Martin and Gavin Walles.

It was such a valuable and insightful session and we wanted to share some of the key takeaways with you:

1. To speed up the adjustment from private practice to in-house, legal leaders should be investing time and support in new employees to help individuals take risks, develop business acumen and become part of the team. Give them time and the opportunity to observe.

2. In-house lawyers should aim to be viewed as business people rather than just legal professionals, and this can be achieved by aligning language to the business, being proactive, and having lawyers run broader projects and sitting with the business.

3. Creating a B2B relationship between the legal team and the business involves understanding the business’s needs, communicating the skills of the legal team and collaborating effectively early on in the process, to avoid any confrontation later. Lawyers should not tell the business what they know but what they need to know.

4. Use feedback and the quality of business relationships to measure the legal team’s commerciality.

5. In interviews, determining if someone is commercial involves assessing their curiosity, flexibility, risk appetite, ability to navigate difficult situations and approach to decision-making. You could include case studies and get someone from the business to sit in on interviews.

6. Hiring individuals with the right motivations and attitudes from diverse backgrounds, who have a willingness to learn and develop, is crucial for successful transitions from private practice to in-house roles.

Is there anything you would add to this list?

Jun 2024

I don’t know if anyone listens to Radio 2 on a Saturday morning with Claudia Winkleman… most Saturdays I am sat in the car waiting for the kids to finish some sport or music club and regularly hear her little wins feature, where a celebrity goes up against a member of the public to compare little wins and the listeners call in to vote.

In recruitment, especially permanent recruitment, there are huge highs and lows. A candidate accepting your offer can put you in a good mood for a week, whereas an offer turned down (or worse still a candidate who pulls out after accepting) can destroy you, even if you’re expecting it. And it doesn’t get any easier just because we we’ve been doing this for 25 years!

Luckily for us at Fry & Brown, lawyers tend to be pretty reliable – they do their research, are honest and stick to their decisions. This together with our thoroughly communicative process means we don’t experience too many real lows. But another way of combatting the downs is to celebrate the little wins which is something that Jane and I regularly practice and share.

Little wins are small, everyday achievements that could go unnoticed, but when noticed can make you smile and keep you going. Some examples for us are –

• A good call with someone where you really build a rapport.
• Someone referring a colleague to Fry & Brown.
• A kind review.
• Someone using the additional interview preparation we provide.
• Finding the perfect person for a difficult to fill role.
• When someone you admire in the industry wants to meet.
• Someone saying thanks, months or years after you place them.

Little wins act as stepping stones during challenging times and focussing on them, and letting the bigger stuff take care of itself, means we can stay level-headed and not let the highs and lows affect our performance. This enables us to remain consistent. That is not to say that we don’t get incredibly excited when we land someone their perfect role!

Jane and I enjoy the little wins along the way, and hopefully this shows and makes a difference to the candidate and client experience. We’re pleased to spend the time chatting to you and getting to know what is important to you as well as your pain points. We love advising and being consultative, we love building relationships and getting your feedback.

Focusing solely on major achievements can be overwhelming and demotivating in recruitment. Celebrating little wins provides a balance between our ambitious aspirations and realistic progress, making the journey to success more enjoyable whilst providing a stress free and personable experience for our industry network.

What will give you a smile at work today?

Nov 2023

The success of any in-house legal department depends on its ability to attract and retain top talent. One crucial aspect of this process is writing well-defined job specifications for the positions you seek to fill, and we are regularly surprised by how empty a job spec can be, or worse, how full of words they are when they don’t seem to say anything at all. Often they are re-hashed from old job specs or are obviously company wide templates that are hardly altered and could be describing any position at the organisation. And this is assuming we even receive a job spec! Sometimes we are asked to use a previous job spec, or to just given information verbally.

But a good job description is essential. It creates a good first impression by showing you are serious about hiring and you have put thought into what you are looking for. By clearly outlining the expectations, responsibilities, and qualifications required, the applicant can imagine themselves working for your company. It will save you time by weeding out those who don’t fit the bill, but more importantly by injecting some culture, personality and even fun into the job spec you can stand out from your competitors and attract someone who otherwise might not apply. And let’s admit it – the best candidates are fussy about which roles they apply for.

A good job spec is an important element of a seamless hiring process enabling you to find the right candidate who will contribute to your team’s success. So what should you include?

Job Title

It is really important to get this right. The title is going to be on the job holder’s signature, business card, CV and their LinkedIn profile. It will be visible internally and externally and whilst many people aren’t precious about title per se, most will want it to show a step up from their current position and a step towards their future ambition. It needs to be accurate for the responsibilities and reflect the right seniority level, both inside the organisation and externally. Think about making the title attractive to the level of candidate you are wanting to hire rather than one that will feel like a sideways move.

Structure

You might not want to disclose a full organisational chart but some information about the size and international coverage of the organisation as well as the size of the legal department will save applicants needing to research before they even consider the role. You should include who the role reports into, either by name or title and any reports the post holder will manage. It is also useful to outline any stakeholders and back office teams that the employee will collaborate with regularly. Information on the structure helps candidates understand their place within the organisational hierarchy and promotes transparency.

Summary

A brief summary should highlight the purpose of the role and it’s significance within the legal department. This will allow candidates to quickly assess whether they have the right experience and whether there is any interest. Busy lawyers don’t have the time to read through heaps of job specs so you need to get to the crux of the position within the first few lines to entice them to continue reading and apply.

Responsibilities

Clearly outline the core responsibilities associated with the role. Break them down into specific tasks and functions, allowing potential applicants to understand the full scope of the position. Order them according to weighting but also think about putting some of the most exciting aspects of the role first, leaving the BAU elements towards the bottom of the list. Be specific and realistic, avoiding generic statements that could apply to multiple roles. We read many a job description where you can get to the bottom and still not know what the role entails. Be careful not to list what you are looking for at this point and think more about what is important to the candidate than what is important to you. Use short bullet points.

Qualifications and Experience

This is your opportunity to outline what is important to you. Don’t just think about what you are looking for, consider who is likely to apply. We all know that regardless of what you put here, you are likely to get far more unsuitable than suitable candidates apply. So be specific about essential requirements – such as “Must be a qualified Solicitor in England and Wales or other common law jurisdiction”.

But on the reverse side of this, be careful not to include any language that dissuades good candidates from applying. Assuming you’re looking for a diverse shortlist you don’t want to write anything that might create any bias or exclude any demographic group such as mothers returning to work for example. There are online apps that can help you check that your job spec for any kind of unconscious bias.

If you are aware that this is a difficult role to fill think about how you can be flexible. We suggest listing the ideal skills you are looking for but also the alternative skills you will consider. If you include post qualification levels make sure this is a guide only, you wouldn’t want to exclude more junior, over-achievers.

• Educational background: Mention the necessary degrees, such as a law degree, JD, LPC, along with any specific legal certifications or licenses. Remember to include whether overseas qualifications can be considered.
• Experience level: Indicate the minimum number of years of experience in a relevant practice area or similar position. It might be worth mentioning whether this should be from either private practice or in-house.
• Specialist knowledge: If the position requires expertise in a specific area of law, or as is often the case in financial services, specific regulations such as consumer credit, MiFID, AIFMD etc. highlight it here.
• Technical skills: Include any necessary software proficiencies or specialist legal tools that you use and would like the candidate to be familiar with.

Personal Attributes and Soft Skills: Beyond technical qualifications, listing the personal skills that would contribute to the candidate’s success in the role not only helps attract the right fit, but gives the applicant an insight into the culture in the team. It can also help give colour to roles with specific stakeholder responsibilities or those that are sat with the business.

Compensation and Benefits

While it is common to save detailed compensation discussions for later stages of the hiring process, consider providing some details on the benefits. Salary bandings can exclude candidates that you might be prepared to pay more for. You may also find that applicants always expect the maximum available, especially in this market. Instead, highlight the benefits offered – especially if they are good. This information will help candidates compare packages and stops difficult negotiations at offer stage.

Crafting effective job specifications for your legal team is a crucial step in attracting and selecting the right candidates. By providing clear expectations, responsibilities, and qualifications, you enhance the hiring process and increase the likelihood of finding top-notch professionals who will contribute to your team’s success. Remember, job specifications should be accurate, concise, and reflective of the specific needs and goals of your legal department or law firm.

For more help with getting your job spec right contact us on team@fryandbrown.com

Are you a lawyer, paralegal or other legal professional wondering if you’re earning a fair wage? Or perhaps you’re considering the possibility of a change in jobs and want to ensure you’re offered an appropriate salary. Benchmarking your legal salary is a great way to gauge your worth in the legal market. This blog will provide an overview of the benchmarking process and tips on researching and evaluating the market and negotiating a salary that reflects your experience, value, and contributions.

Benchmarking your legal compensation is the process of researching and comparing salaries offered for similar positions to better understand the salary range in your market. There are several steps for benchmarking a salary, from exploring the market, evaluating your contributions, and negotiating. In addition to the basic skills and qualifications you bring to an employer, understanding your value in the market is critical to creating a reasonable salary structure.

Researching Your Market

The first step in benchmarking your salary is to research the relevant legal market. Knowing what professionals in similar positions in your geographical area are typically paid is key to helping you gauge your own worth.

The best place to start is to review public sources of salary surveys. Look for websites that provide reliable salary reports and data from online sources, such as PayScale, Glassdoor, and SalaryExpert. You can also look to industry publications like journal articles and professional magazines, as well as trade organisations like NALP which offer breakdowns of what lawyers make in various practice areas and geographical locations.

Additionally, it’s essential to consider the local employment market. Take into account economic factors such as the health of the legal industry in your area and the cost of living. A local market can be better or worse than a national average, so it’s important to be aware of these differences.

Evaluating Your Worth

After researching the legal market in your area, it’s important to assess your own value and contributions. To get a good idea of your worth, consider your experience, the type of legal work you do, and any specialisations and professional development courses you’ve taken. When looking at job responsibilities, think about your workload and any other tasks you have taken on that have contributed positively to your organisation. Another way to gauge your worth is to look at client feedback, awards and other accolades you’ve received.

Negotiating Your Salary

Now that you have an idea of what a reasonable salary should be, you can prepare for negotiations. It’s important to determine your bottom line when discussing compensation and have a good understanding of the employer’s budget. Make sure to practice your pitch in order to explain your value in the legal market and how it would benefit the organisation. It can be helpful to identify sources of leverage, such as outside offers and compare this to the employer’s current offering.

Be prepared for counteroffers from the employer, and use your benchmarking research to inform your decision. Accessing reliable sources to back up your negotiation is necessary for securing a fair salary.

Benchmarking your legal salary is a great way to gauge your worth compared to other legal professionals in the market. Being proactive in understanding your value and gaining the knowledge necessary to negotiate your salary is vital to ensuring you are paid fairly.

Apr 2023

A recent conversation with an excellent lawyer who is “open to work” this week led us to fully debate the pros and cons of taking a contract position when you’d really prefer a permanent job. I thought it worth sharing some points to consider.

Contract positions come up for different reasons – maternity covers, waiting for permanent hires to start, project work, sabbatical cover, budget restrictions and head count freezes.

Although mostly an option for immediately available lawyers, some permanent employees are also considering contracts and employers will sometimes wait for the 1 or 3 months’ notice. Whilst a maternity cover isn’t likely to wait, if employers plan well ahead, or can delay the start of the project, these roles can be open to permanent employees too.

In previous times some saw contracting as second rate, but thanks to the likes of Axiom, Peerpoint Simmons Adaptive etc., contracting or consulting is now an alternative career and can offer quality legal skills to employers.

Advantages

• Nearly 50% of the people we place in contract roles become permanent or get their contracts extended. If you know why they are hiring, you can get a good idea about whether there is a chance of it becoming permanent.
• Many people move on from permanent roles after 2 or 3 years now anyway, so if your contract is extended once or twice it could easily last as long as a permanent role.
• It can be a great way of getting in-house experience. Employers looking for contractors don’t have as much choice in the market so are often more flexible and will consider those without in-house experience.
• If you are not sure about in-house, the industry, or the company, you get the chance to “try before you buy” without having to commit to a permanent role and then resign.
• Contracting can also allow you to try new sectors, work in different size and types of organisation.
• You can get variety in your work by moving between contracts.
• You don’t get included in any office politics, a big one for many of the lawyers we speak to.
• Contract work can be more lucrative, especially useful if you’ve had some time out of work.

Disadvantages

• There are rarely any career prospects or development opportunities. This is particularly problematic for more junior lawyers who still have lots to learn and might find they get stuck at a certain corporate title and pay grade. It can work better for senior lawyers, and people often consider contracting when they have already had fulfilling careers.
• There is a danger of being out of work between contracts, although some use this to their advantage.
• If your contract isn’t extended, you will become immediately available and are likely to get offered another contract before securing a permanent job. Recruitment process for contracts are much shorter and quicker. If your preference is a permanent role, there is then a danger that you become a “contractor”, moving from one contract to the next.
• It can be very difficult to get back into permanent work once you have completed a few contracts, as employers are looking for commitment and career progression.
• Sometimes you can be treated like a “contractor”. You might only be given a certain level or type of work when you could do more, you might not be included in meetings, the business might not make the same effort to get to know you etc. if they know you are not there for long.
• You have to re-learn the industry, company and who the people are every time you move contracts.
• A jumpy CV can put employers off. Most will be looking for continuity or at least a good reason for the moves you have made.

Our Advice

• If you’re thinking of leaving a permanent role or would really prefer permanent work don’t take anything less than a 12 month contract.
• Think about whether you can afford to be out of work at the end of the contract, and how any gaps in your work history might affect your CV.
• Don’t act like a contractor. Don’t turn up and do the bear minimum thinking that you will complete the contract then move back to a career role. Turn up with a permanent mindset, going the extra mile, act like a permanent member of staff. Then you can go some way towards making yourself indispensable.
• Don’t accept a contract role that you wouldn’t want to take on a permanent basis unless you need to. Getting a legal counsel position with a water company is not going to help you get into an investment bank, so make sure there is something to add to your CV and new experience with every position you take.

To discuss your options please contact Tracy or Jane for a confidential discussion.

Feb 2023

The world around us has changed dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic. With many of us now working from home and communicating virtually, it’s been a huge shift from the way we used to communicate. As Fry & Brown have moved forward, we as individuals have certainly had a feeling that something has been missing. When the rest of the household goes back to school or work after Christmas there is certainly a very empty feeling in my home office.

Jane and I both have a strong preference for home working. Being able to be home for the children and avoiding the long commute (both living outside London) is a large part of the reason we set up our business. But despite embracing technology and consistently arranging meetings, we still haven’t quite been able to put our finger on what it is that is missing, and how mentally tough it can be.

We’ve been able to come up with a few little tips worth sharing that helped us during 2022:

• We regularly re-consider how we can improve our communication.
• We use technology to our advantage, to stay connected, and to seek out new products and demo’s to get improve our connections.
• We use video conferencing to learn more about one another as well as ourclients.
• We try to avoid only 1 to 1 meetings, and involve more people.
• We’re reintroducing the face to face coffee to really get to know our contacts.
• We seek out networking events to expand the network.

The way we communicate will continue to evolve and it’s up to us to embrace the changes and make the most of it.

#communication #VirtualNetworking #AdaptToChange #legalnetworking #legalrecruitment

Jan 2023

The Legal Business Awards on 27th September at the Grosvenor House Hotel was one of the first black tie events in the legal industry for quite sometime and you could tell… Most of our clients jumped at the chance to attend, arrived early and were on great form, and we were very excited to be hosting a table.

We chose to sponsor the “Insurance Team of the Year”. Recruitment into the insurance industry forms a large part of what we cover and we have some great insurance clients regularly hiring, from Lloyds insurers looking for specialist experience, insuretech and start-ups looking for their first lawyers, through to the largest global insurers hiring corporate, commercial and regulatory insurance lawyers. With so much regulatory change affecting the industry recently, especially in the sustainability and ESG space, there has been a big uptick in the amount of opportunities for talented lawyers looking to move from private practice to in-house.

The winners EVERSHEDS SUTHERLAND were presented with the award by LOUISE MINCHIN and our own Director, Tracy Brown and it was great for our table to share a drink with the winning team following the 3 course dinner and wine. The band played, the after party started and the event went on into the early hours.

Congratulations to all the evening’s winners and you can see more pictures on our LinkedIn company page here – https://www.linkedin.com/company/fry-brown/ .

Everyone has been through a lot recently and the recruitment market has also been through a lot. Following an understandably quiet 2020, we were starting to wonder what our next business venture might be! Luckily we have great clients that kept their word and went ahead with hiring the candidates that had been offered and completing interview processes that were already in progress.  We heard horror stories of people resigning or leaving only to find their new job offers were pulled, but with lawyers being so incredibly busy still we are pleased to say we didn’t have any first hand experience of this. Following the summer, in-house legal recruitment levels gradually picked up and for those who were brave enough to make the jump and start new roles largely remotely, there were financial institutions busy enough to invest in them. For a year or so, there was a reasonably normal recruitment market with the supply and demand for candidates mostly equal. We knew that after years of minimal recruitment activity (due to Brexit as well as Covid) at some point things would really need to pick up but we couldn’t have predicted this!

Over the last 6-9 months the market has really gone crazy and although there have been signs of dip at times (and there are certainly concerns in the wider economy), it has not materialised as yet and it looks like we are going to be sticking with a busy market for a while. So what’s been happening and what can you expect if you’re looking to move in-house now?

• Transactional areas are very busy – general lending, capital markets, corporate, M&A etc.
• Regulatory lawyers in demand as always – but now it’s wholesale banking and wealth as well as retail.
• Demand for technology lawyers seems to have eased off – there are definitely the jobs for them still but not so many in financial services, possibly due to a more precarious fintech/start-up market.
• Commercial lawyers are still in demand – with complex and high value transaction experience very desirable. But broader general commercial roles are available too with the option of expanding experience into data protection, operations, regulatory, funds and other areas.
• Less corporate governance roles – very little in legal risk, board support, corp advisory etc.
• ESG is becoming an element of most in-house lawyers roles – however, there are very few roles that purely focus on this, and we know many of you would love to move into this area.
• Demand for regulated funds lawyers has picked up – more so than private funds.
• Several business roles – either lawyers to be sat with the business providing transactional support, or options for lawyers to move into business and sales roles whilst using their legal skillset.
• High demand for junior lawyers – due to the salary increases being paid and hybrid options being made available to keep these lawyers in practice.
• More “head of” roles – no obvious reason for it but we’ve seen an increase in Head of Legal roles, mostly requiring very specific skill sets.
• Not much movement at the senior associate (c. 5-10 PQE) level – concerns that legal teams are top heavy due to the difficulty in hiring junior lawyers.

Salaries

• Budgets for in-house legal roles remain largely unchanged since the market picked up.
• Hiring managers are not surprised to hear that people are looking for top end or over budget.
• Whilst the budgets may remain fixed, we are seeing employers increase what they are prepared to pay for top calibre lawyers.
• Real discrepancies at the senior in-house lawyer level, as some teams increase internal salaries in line with what they are having to pay new hires and others do not.
• Less margin between junior and senior lawyers in-house.
• After many years of fairly static figures, in-house salaries do seem to be increasing although certainly not at the rate seen in private practice.

Flexibility

• Almost all in-house lawyers now work to a hybrid model – 2-3 days in the office a week.
• A few employers are still demanding 5 days in the office – usually for cultural reasons (often start-ups, establishing cultures)
• More entirely remote roles – often to combat the salary increase issues and the battle for good regional candidates who are prepared to travel to London for a couple of days.

We hope this is helpful. To keep updated you can follow us on LinkedIn here and search our vacancies here .

Jul 2022

At Fry & Brown we recruit lawyers into the financial services industry and whilst many move between in-house roles, the majority are making the jump from private practice.

A major consideration for many of these lawyers is work-life balance and predictability of hours, with salary and package being the trade-off. But something that can be equally important to consider when making a move in-house is the job title – and this can often be overlooked.

Private practice titles are relatively transparent and easier to compare, with associates, senior associates, managing associates, directors, partners, and their equivalents. But in-house can be more complex and varied, especially highlighted by the diverse industries and the varying size of companies from start-ups to FTSE 100’s. In addition to the in-house legal titles there are the corporate titles, which can be especially complex at large financial institutions with matrix reporting including analysts, AVPs and VPs, EDs and MDs. The Assistant/Associate General Counsel title is particularly confusing with the position being very senior at some organisations and quite junior at others. Smaller organisations without an existing legal team might not have even considered legal titles when you get to offer stage whereas larger organisations may have so many titles that you have no idea where you should be pitched, and often the structures are not logical. 

What should you read into the title, and how important is it?

• Entry level roles would normally be associate, assistant, or legal counsel and the “counsel” title, indicating that you are in-house, is probably always preferable to lawyer.
• For most people it would make sense to aim as senior as possible. In-house legal departments tend to have flatter structures with less opportunity to progress until others move on, so make the most of your first move by aiming high. Whilst senior legal counsel, or equivalent titles are normally used for those 6 PQE and above, we’ve recently had lawyers from 3 years post qualified up getting a more senior title, but then at more bottlenecked legal departments lawyers with 9 or 10 years’ experience are still struggling to move up.
• Much depends on the size of business and hierarchy around you. Do your research and look at your peers on LinkedIn. But consider tenure at the organisation as well as seniority. How many others have that title? How long are people generally at the organisation before their job title changes? Is there evidence of lawyers moving sideways for promotion, and could you expand your skillset if you can’t improve on title?
• Senior Legal Counsel is a very common title and is generally understood to indicate competency and possibly some junior management responsibility. Sticking to a simpler title may make it easier when looking for your next role with people clearly understanding the level you are at and what you do.
• The Legal Director title is fairly common in-house as well as being used in private practice but it’s meaning can be quite vague. It will often be used for a senior or sole legal counsel role where the Head of Legal or General Counsel title may over-pitch it, although it can also be a very senior title. It’s worth considering whether this title accurately reflects your role and if it will be understood internally and externally.
• Head of Legal can be the most senior lawyer, or can report into a General Counsel, or be a sole lawyer. If you are the most senior lawyer in the organisation, it is worth pushing for the GC title, especially if you would expect any future roles to also be GC. General Counsel positions usually carry extra board level responsibilities and look after other departments and teams such as company secretarial, compliance and risk, but not always. However, it is worth being aware that GCs, like Partners in law firms, can struggle when looking to move on. A lot of hiring at this level is done through head-hunters and word of mouth so those actively looking can find it difficult. Even if you will consider a more junior title or a contract position, employers can often be put off if someone has previously had a very senior title.

Think about how you will be considered both internally and externally. You won’t enjoy working in an environment where your peers feel that lateral hires are being brought in over their heads. A “head of” title sounds great, but what are you head of? A head of a team reporting into a more senior lawyer might be better than Head of Legal as the only lawyer. And whilst you want to aim for a senior title, make sure it is going to be understood and doesn’t limit your future options. Accept that titles vary hugely in-house and are considered much more important at a US than a UK bank for instance, where what may seem like a step down could be the right move so long as it is correctly pitched within that organisation.

In truth, the right job title depends on the context, and most lawyers will have little choice anyway. But it is important that you feel comfortable that the title is accurate for the job that you are doing and the level that you are operating at.

To discuss your career options in-house get in touch with us at Fry & Brown

Tracy – tracy@fryandbrown.com – 020 3743 0695

Jane – jane@fryandbrown.com – 020 3743 0697