In-house training contracts
The majority of Solicitors work in private practice, i.e. for law firms. However, many large companies and organisations have their own legal departments, employing their own lawyers and legal teams to undertake their legal work. Lawyers working within companies or large organisations are referred to as in-house lawyers. Many companies (including BT, EDF Energy and Vodafone) offer Training Contracts within their legal teams, allowing you to complete your training as a solicitor with a company, as opposed to a law firm.
It is also possible to undertake work experience within the legal departments of companies and organisations, with vacation schemes, similar to those offered in law firms to be found amongst the larger companies.
In-house Training Contracts are highly sought and opportunities can often be difficult to locate, as they are not as widely advertised as the places available in Private Practice. Being aware of what a legal career in-house entails, and knowing where to look for the opportunities is imperative.
Within this section of ULG you can find insider case studies and profiles of leading in-house solicitors, top tips on finding out about in-house opportunities and securing work experience and invaluable information on the key differences between a legal career in-house and that of private practice. We also have a comprehensive database of the companies currently offering Training Contracts and their contact details.
Check out our comprehensive list of in-house training contract providers and our Guide to the In-house legal recruitment market.
Both of these are free PDF document downloads.
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KAT GIBSON: In- house lawyer for Coca-Cola
I am a four-year PQE solicitor working in house for Coca-Cola Enterprises Limited, a soft drinks manufacturing, trade and marketing multi-national. I have worked in-house since 2007, having previously been at Nortel Networks; a multi-national telecommunications company. I am an employment specialist, and advise my employer on all labour and privacy law issues across its GB operation.
My background
I took the traditional academic route through college and University towards the legal profession. I knew that I wanted to work in the law from a young age and this had always been where my interests lay. I read Law at the University of Southampton and graduated in 2001. Having graduated, I took a year out in order to work and save in order to be able to self-finance my LPC. I undertook the same at the College of Law, Guildford, starting in 2002.
I finished the LPC in 2003 with a Distinction. Having finished the academic stage of training, I was keen to get to work as soon as possible. I started my career at Paris Smith & Randall LLP, a medium sized commercial firm in Southampton. I worked as a paralegal for a few months, before commencing my training contract with the same firm. I qualified in November 2005, into the Employment Department of Paris Smith.
Going in-house
When completing my training, I had not considered any other ways of practising law, other than in a private practice environment. This was, in the main, due to the fact that I wanted to practise employment law and this is still fairly rare in the employed sector.
However, at around two years PQE, I became interested in expanding my knowledge base and getting involved in more complex matters. I wanted to get my hands on more transactional, corporate support, work; as well as more responsibility and autonomy. This was not immediately available to me in my current role. I was not, at that time, considering going to another law firm. I was also not considering in-house work, per se. However, I saw the position at Nortel Networks advertised, and it seemed to be a perfect fit.
I worked at Nortel from 2007 to 2009, providing employment advice across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The role provided me with exactly what I was looking for, as well as making me a more risk-orientated, pragmatic, commercial and strategic lawyer.
In 2009, sadly, Nortel became a victim of the global downturn and went into global insolvency. At that time, I left Nortel and joined Coca-Cola Enterprises.
As an in-house employment lawyer, I advise the business on all matters which affect its employees. This can include anything from dismissals and redundancies, benefits packages and pensions, collective bargaining, restructures and the imposition of new working policies. I also have a specialism in data privacy law, and act as Coca-Cola Enterprises’s Data Privacy Officer. My role includes providing strategic advice to my internal clients, being involved in business decisions and working on matters with issues and legal ramifications which I quite simply would not be doing in private practice. In addition to the complexity and variety of the work I am getting, I am able now to provide advice to my clients throughout a particular issue or project, and not just in snapshots. I can be involved in the management of the risk for the company and be more proactive and less reactive. I feel that I add value to the company as a strategic business partner, rather than simply being a cost to it. |