When lawyers who have never worked in business transition to a nonlegal job, they may

feel as if they have landed on another planet — in some good ways and some bad

ways. Fortunately, the good far outweighs the bad.

In addition to placing job ads on the ex judicata job board, more and more companies

are asking us to conduct individual searches. Typically, they are for more experienced

lawyers — often a law firm partner — for a specific nonlegal job.

We recently placed a partner from an Am Law 10 firm with a Fortune 500 client in a nonpracticing capacity. She noted two things right off the bat:

1. There was a sense of teamwork that didn’t exist in the law firm

2. The employees, including senior executives, did not have “a sense

of entitlement” the way her colleagues at XYZ firm did.

Those are two very major differences. Regarding the sense of entitlement, that may or

may not be the case at other elite Biglaw firms. It depends on the firm. Regarding

teamwork, however, it is almost certain that you will see far more teamwork in Corporate

America.

What’s the goal (mission)?

Occasionally, I’ll ask friends who work in Biglaw, the last time they were called into a

meeting at the start of a matter to talk about a client’s goal and the different roles

everyone in the room will play towards getting a favorable result. They can’t remember

it ever happening.

In Corporate America, on the other hand, there will be meetings (maybe too many)

where there is a shared sense of purpose.

Be prepared to talk about more than your task

In Biglaw before, during, and after the pandemic, it has been very easy to feel not

connected to the organization. You’re given a task, and you do it well. The person two

doors down may be working on another task for the same matter and you have no

interaction with that person concerning the matter.

It is rarer in Corporate America because so much work is done collaboratively. So be

prepared to talk about all the different aspects of the project you’re working on with

many different people even if your task on that project is a relatively s