Apr 27, 2018
Many lawyers are interested in transitioning to an in-house legal role. Right or wrong, the perception is that working in-house means more control over your hours. It also means you are not responsible for generating your own work. At the same time, in-house lawyers get to be part of the “team” and sit at the table with clients before critical business decisions are made.
In contrast, being in private practice gives you the chance to be more entrepreneurial and build your own business, even though it removes you from day to day contact with your clients.
But there is actually another model for practicing law. It is a hybrid role called outsourced counsel. As outsourced counsel, lawyers can work onsite with several clients at once. While outsourced counsel technically have their own law practices, they also have the benefit of “living with the clients they are serving.”
In this episode, I speak with Paul Cohen, who is currently Senior Counsel at Dassault Systemes. But for many years, Paul maintained a private practice where he worked as outsourced counsel to several technology companies. Paul has spent his entire legal career working for technology companies in Massachusetts. He has great insights into what it takes to be successful in this hybrid role.
Paul is happy to speak with you directly if you have questions about being an outsourced counsel. He can be reached at paulcohenlaw@gmail.com .
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