5 Career-Boosting Benefits Of An In-House Training Contract

An in-house legal training contract is the right choice for some candidates.

As a former in-house lawyer, I’ve seen trainees benefit from the different in-house training environment and develop into excellent lawyers.

In this post, I’ll share 5 of the biggest benefits of doing your training contract in-house. I’ll also guide you on how to find in-house training contract vacancies and list the companies organisations offering them.

So, let’s get into it…

Benefit #1 – Variety, breadth & the need for adaptability

In-house training contracts are often more generalist roles which can cover a variety of legal areas.

Often, these can include:

• General commercial
• Employment
• Property
• IP
• Corporate
• Disputes
• Compliance/governance.

Whilst you might work on a broader range of legal matters, you also become a specialist in the business or organisation you’re exclusively working for.

So, if you like variety and the idea that you’ll deal with most legal issues that the business or organisation faces, then the in-house route might be for you.

With the variety and breadth comes a healthy degree of challenge and the opportunity to continuously learn and develop as a lawyer. At times, you’ll also work with external law firms on large legal matters that need a bigger team or when specialist legal advice is needed.

In my experience, it’s hard to become bored as an in-house lawyer.

Benefit #2 – Develop a deep business/organisation understanding

Working in-house, you’re at the coalface in an interesting commercial and/or public sector setting.

In a business, this is often quite an entrepreneurial environment as you assist with innovative business growth projects and tackle the more difficult business problems and challenges.

It’s similar when working in the public sector but often with less purely commercial components.

You work at the heart of the business/organisation alongside sector/business experts. 

This offers huge opportunities to continually learn about the business/organisation, sector and wider landscape/environment.

Trainees training in a business usually find their commerciality will develop much quicker than in private practice. They get to experience the commercial drivers from within.

When I worked as a junior in-house lawyer, I always thought of my role as a commercial and business enabling one first – and a legal one second. You have to find the right balance, but you’re primarily there to help the business flourish.

This also gives you a lot of creative input, so it’s great if you like to use a deeper understanding to aid creative problem-solving and idea/solution generation.

Benefit #3 – Closer to the work & decisions of the client

Because you’re working for only one client and you’re situated within the business/organisation, you have a much greater exposure to the core work.

This usually means:

• You’re more invested in the company/organisation’s success (sometimes benefiting financially by owning shares in the business).
• You can have more of an impact on the business/organisation.
• You can see the effect of your work and point to specific outcomes.
• You get involved in projects earlier than private practice lawyers and can see them right through to their conclusion.

So, as you can see, being in-house means you’re an integral part of the business/organisation, not just an adviser on the periphery.

This is evidenced by the fact that many in-house legal departments in businesses are called “Legal and Business Affairs”.

This greater exposure gives you a better insight into the business/organisation’s operations and objectives, which you use to inform the advice you give to help your ‘client’ achieve those objectives.

It’s this proximity to the core work that most in-house lawyers say is the most rewarding part of the role.

Benefit #4 – High responsibility & control over your development

In-house legal departments are usually quite flat, non-hierarchical structures where high levels of responsibility are on offer for trainees.

There’s more scope to take control over the work you do and how much responsibility you take on to further your development.

It’s not unusual for senior lawyers to delegate work that is at a more senior level than trainee level. Often, trainees can find themselves being trusted to do associate-level work on a regular basis.

There is also usually the opportunity to work alongside senior lawyers on more complex and high-profile matters, which is great for your development as a well-rounded lawyer.

You will often find that you have ownership of your own projects and matters as a trainee. For example, you might have sole responsibility for a certain type of commercial contract (with support available should you need it).

Being able to take charge of your own work is invaluable for the development of critical skills needed as a more senior lawyer.

Benefit #5 – A more balanced lifestyle

There has long been a myth that in-house lawyers don’t work as hard as private practice lawyers, and it’s somehow the easier option.

Having been an in-house lawyer for 7+ years, I can tell you this isn’t the case. In-house lawyers work extremely hard and often on very complex matters.

However, a major difference is that in-house lawyers often have the opportunity to choose a more balanced lifestyle. This is because they only have one client and they work alongside non-lawyers who value a healthy work-life balance. 

There are some key aspects that don’t feature in an in-house lawyer’s work that can mean a better lifestyle than in private practice:

• Consistent need for long working hours.
• No need to record time.
• No requirement for billing clients.
• No marketing or business development to bring work in.

As a prospective trainee, you should consider your own definition of “success”. If this includes having a life outside of work, then the in-house option is well worth considering.

So, if the in-house training contract option sounds appealing, how do you find roles to apply for?

How to find in-house training contract opportunities

If you’re considering an in-house training contract, the challenge is usually finding vacancies to apply for.

Unlike training contracts in private practice, there generally isn’t a set annual timetable for the advertising of training contract positions in-house. This is because they’re mostly offered when the business/organisation needs new trainees.

Here are some steps I would take to find roles:

• Set up job alerts for the keywords “training contract” and “trainee solicitor” in the main legal job boards, such as Totally Legal and Law Society Gazette Jobs (Pro tip: put quote marks around the search term to get search results for only those phrases).
• Look on Lawcareers.net for in-house training contracts (usually good for public sector training contracts) – see the specific “in-house” search results here.
• Search LinkedIn for in-house trainee solicitors so you can see their journeys – some will have been a paralegal at the company before becoming a trainee (which may be a good route for you too).

To help you, here’s a list of companies and organisations which have previously offered training contracts – so it’s worth Googling and/or contacting them to see if they have any upcoming in-house training contract vacancies:

Private Sector

• Barclays
• Amazon
• Vodafone
• BT
• Manchester United
• Mercedes Benz
• JP Morgan
• Virgin Media
• ITV
• Tesco
• Balfour Beatty
• McDonald’s
• Sky
• BBC
• Deutsche Bank
• Astra Zeneca
• Unilever
• Robert Walters Group
• Deloitte
• National Grid
• NBC Universal
• Co-Operative
• PwC
• EDF Energy
• Ernst & Young
• Nokia
• Man Group
• Adidas
• Warner Bros

Public Sector

• Government Legal Department (including specific departments such as HMRC or the National Crime Agency)
• Crown Prosecution Service
• Local Authorities (district and borough councils)
• NHS

So, is an in-house training contract for you?

As you can see, there are some compelling arguments for an in-house training contract.

If these benefits sound appealing, the next step I would recommend is to reach out to in-house lawyers and trainees to set up a conversation to find out more.

This will not only give you invaluable information and learning, it will develop your network, and you may even find out about training contract or work experience opportunities.

So, be proactive in your exploration.

After all, that’s a key component of being an in-house trainee, so you can start showing that now.