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In-house bros: how chill are your days on average?

How many hours per day are you working? After 5pm?
'"'"'"''"
  01/09/25
...
'"'"'"''"
  01/09/25
if it's not chill and you're working a lot after 5pm, ask yo...
Kenneth Play
  01/09/25
90% of my days are extremely chill. i often do work after 5p...
richard clock
  01/09/25
Describe your comp
He flexed his right muscle.
  01/09/25
...
richard clock
  01/09/25
How big is your company and where are you on the totem pole?
.;:..;:.;.:.;.,,,..,.:,.;....;,;;;..;,..,,.,,....,
  01/09/25
(Major, Lindsay & Africa associate)
richard clock
  01/09/25
...
.;:..;:.;.:.;.,,,..,.:,.;....;,;;;..;,..,,.,,....,
  01/09/25
Damn, that's legit.
The Buzz Aldrin Spacelaw Fellowship
  01/09/25
yeah that's great comp for non-GC in-house, gotta be a VP or...
Kenneth Play
  01/10/25
incredibly chill
embers
  01/09/25
chill, 45hrs/week. nothing on weekends, no insanity. nobody ...
Trust If Aryan
  01/09/25
The raw number of hours isn’t a big deal. But I’...
,.,.,.,........,....,,,..
  01/09/25
I thought the whole point of going in-house was to avoid tha...
'"'"'"''"
  01/09/25
It’s still better than at a firm. Far fewer actual hou...
,.,.,.,........,....,,,..
  01/09/25
yeah it's the random stuff forwarded to you at the 11th hour...
embers
  01/09/25
Yep. Especially if it’s an exec and his team has alrea...
,.,.,.,........,....,,,..
  01/10/25
imo there's something to that re length: sometimes you just ...
Kenneth Play
  01/09/25
There’s a lot to be said for no one knowing your name....
,.,.,.,........,....,,,..
  01/10/25
...
richard clock
  01/10/25
I work like 25 hours a week. $500K all-in.
:;:;;;:;:;;;:;:;:;:;
  01/09/25
Are you hiring?
'"'"'"''"
  01/09/25
We have enough pumos
:;:;;;:;:;;;:;:;:;:;
  01/10/25
Not chill at all. Always leading big deals. Managing project...
turtledood
  01/09/25
No longer in-house, but when I was, it was kind of wretched ...
Justice for Armpit and Blanket!
  01/10/25
Generally the nature of the work is way better unless you're...
Fucking Fuckface
  01/10/25
Very chill on average with like two weeks of intense work pe...
ADA-compliant Monkey Bars
  01/10/25
Hella chill
snk neo geo
  01/10/25
I work at generic F500. Comp is $250 base plus 25% bonus. I ...
........,,,,,,......,.,.,.,,,,,,,,,,
  01/10/25
I think the main thing BigLaw bros don’t get is the vo...
ADA-compliant Monkey Bars
  01/10/25
When it’s very busy like 50 hours a week (maybe 5 or 6...
Fyre festival founder
  01/10/25


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Reply Favorite

Date: January 9th, 2025 2:08 PM
Author: '"'"'"''"

How many hours per day are you working? After 5pm?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48536494)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 9th, 2025 3:38 PM
Author: '"'"'"''"



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537019)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 3:42 PM
Author: Kenneth Play

if it's not chill and you're working a lot after 5pm, ask yourself, why am i not being compensated more highly and working at a law firm. or find a more chill in-house job

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537033)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 3:47 PM
Author: richard clock

90% of my days are extremely chill. i often do work after 5pm to connect with people in asia, but it's no big deal and it's not like i'm working straight through, i'll just schedule a call at 8pm or something and deal with it

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537050)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 9th, 2025 3:52 PM
Author: He flexed his right muscle.

Describe your comp

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537073)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 9th, 2025 4:53 PM
Author: richard clock



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537453)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 4:57 PM
Author: .;:..;:.;.:.;.,,,..,.:,.;....;,;;;..;,..,,.,,....,


How big is your company and where are you on the totem pole?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537478)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 9th, 2025 5:02 PM
Author: richard clock

(Major, Lindsay & Africa associate)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537513)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 5:06 PM
Author: .;:..;:.;.:.;.,,,..,.:,.;....;,;;;..;,..,,.,,....,




(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537540)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 8:18 PM
Author: The Buzz Aldrin Spacelaw Fellowship

Damn, that's legit.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48538368)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 12:26 PM
Author: Kenneth Play

yeah that's great comp for non-GC in-house, gotta be a VP or bu GC or something. maybe senior director if it's a very high col city.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539808)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 4:07 PM
Author: embers (No Future)

incredibly chill

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537161)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 4:32 PM
Author: Trust If Aryan

chill, 45hrs/week. nothing on weekends, no insanity. nobody really cares too much

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537328)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 4:37 PM
Author: ,.,.,.,........,....,,,..


The raw number of hours isn’t a big deal. But I’m always on call and frequently take calls at random times. Will have a meeting in the morning and then at 8pm. Makes it feel like there’s always work going on. I think I’ve stayed too long at my current gig. Too much responsibility for too many things built up.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537354)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 9th, 2025 5:19 PM
Author: '"'"'"''"

I thought the whole point of going in-house was to avoid that.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537637)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 9th, 2025 5:54 PM
Author: ,.,.,.,........,....,,,..


It’s still better than at a firm. Far fewer actual hours worked. When shit hits the fan the response is to forward it to outside counsel, not do a bunch of work on your own. Partners treat you nice because you’re the client. Business colleagues treat you nice because they’re not lawyers and have respect for lawyers. Just the constant pinging about issues day and night is annoying. Also sucks managing people and being a figurehead. The sweet spot was like 5 years ago when comp was similar, liquidity events more regular, and when I was more mid level so no one expected anything of me.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537776)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 7:36 PM
Author: embers (No Future)

yeah it's the random stuff forwarded to you at the 11th hour with a 'are you the right person for this? what should we do?' and you have to go down some rabbit hole

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48538216)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 8:49 AM
Author: ,.,.,.,........,....,,,..


Yep. Especially if it’s an exec and his team has already marched something all the way to the goal line or even implemented it without legal review and then there are problems. Or litigation or other disputes. Or if m&a, it is just like a month or more of life gone, no real financial incentive for you on buy side other than theoretical increase to equity value.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539341)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 9:01 PM
Author: Kenneth Play

imo there's something to that re length: sometimes you just become the dumping ground for a lot of quagmire projects. and a change of scenery gives you a fresh start someplace else (maybe inheriting somebody else's quagmire projects but hey, maybe not, and at least it'll be different)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48538466)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 8:50 AM
Author: ,.,.,.,........,....,,,..


There’s a lot to be said for no one knowing your name. Takes several months before you become visible again and you’re paid the same.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539346)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 8:57 AM
Author: richard clock



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539358)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 5:36 PM
Author: :;:;;;:;:;;;:;:;:;:;

I work like 25 hours a week. $500K all-in.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537702)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 9th, 2025 5:46 PM
Author: '"'"'"''"

Are you hiring?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48537739)



Reply Favorite

Date: January 10th, 2025 1:00 PM
Author: :;:;;;:;:;;;:;:;:;:;

We have enough pumos

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539916)



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Date: January 9th, 2025 7:39 PM
Author: turtledood

Not chill at all. Always leading big deals. Managing projects. Dealing with miscellaneous fires. Managing teams / people.

That said, thoroughly enjoy it and would thoroughly hate being at a firm.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48538231)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 7:37 AM
Author: Justice for Armpit and Blanket!

No longer in-house, but when I was, it was kind of wretched because after a salesdood took over CEO, corp management started to think of legal as a cost center. Arguments like "I'm saving you $40 million by working out this shitty dealer who was using us as his working capital facility" aren't intelligible to salesdoods who only think about the top line and don't know what a cost of capital is.

I wound up doing a lot of what external counsel should have been doing bc I had to make my own numbers look better, and that meant a lot of really long days of research and structuring, followed by distro to external counsel, followed by "yeah okay we're signed off, p.s. that will be $50k for the signature." Not worth it for comp of ~$260k (albeit in lower COL area than biglaw.) Left for greener pastures as soon as I could. The only good part was that I had to build many skills and so much experience that I worked up a big title and deal record, and it wasn't too hard to leave.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539279)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 8:00 AM
Author: Fucking Fuckface

Generally the nature of the work is way better unless you're one of those people who get off on raw deal numbers or "complexity(!!)". You actually do things that feel meaningful and aren't parasitic.

The amount of work varies a ton company to company. Your level and focus are the primary predictors, as well as the nature and size of the company (public, private, PE, sub $500 n revenue, multi-billion revenue, etc.).

Current gig is not chill and due to commercial leadership failures, the comp will be terrible for the level I'm at. If we hit targets it would be ok (nearly 500 cash and 250 - 333 annual equity accrued to be paid out on a liquidity event). I have no confidence in my commercial leaders and will leave soon if possible.



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539299)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 8:45 AM
Author: ADA-compliant Monkey Bars

Very chill on average with like two weeks of intense work per quarter. Zero weekends and truly 8-5 with 90-minutes at the gym. Four to five hours of real work per day.

Hardest thing I do is draft bespoke agreements. Most mind-numbing thing is corporate governance.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539336)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 12:27 PM
Author: snk neo geo

Hella chill

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539813)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 12:40 PM
Author: ........,,,,,,......,.,.,.,,,,,,,,,,


I work at generic F500. Comp is $250 base plus 25% bonus. I consider this to be a really good salary for flyover.

It's a pretty standard 9-5, and by that I mean everyone works like 4 hours a day, spend 2 hours a day on calls i half pay attention to, and spend 2 hours just dicking around gossiping. Usually people stop working about noon on Fridays if not busy.

It's a lot better than big law because you're not redlining some 200 page agreement just to show you read the fucking section. Like I might ask the client if we can use the other party's pictures or if we need to run it by the other party, I'm not spending 10 drafts going back and fortha s to wheter its a "worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license" or any of that other shit that makes that section 2 pages in some documents.

For the most part we just think about the term, indemnification provisions, and payment - and then actually take a minute to think about what might actually go wrong on the deal.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539851)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 1:01 PM
Author: ADA-compliant Monkey Bars

I think the main thing BigLaw bros don’t get is the volume of work. You might have 12-40 active projects at any one time. My group churns several hundred agreements per quarter but only 25 of them are non-routine.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539918)



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Date: January 10th, 2025 12:46 PM
Author: Fyre festival founder

When it’s very busy like 50 hours a week (maybe 5 or 6 weeks like that). Otherwise it’s typically like a very chill 35 hours a week and I’m fully WFH. I don’t make shit though but I can’t leave because it’s fully remote and those are rare now.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5661555&forum_id=2).#48539863)