Practicing law in an in-house legal department varies depending on the size of the department. Some attorneys in-house do all the legal work for their corporation (such as trademark and insurance work), while others play more of a compliance role and will supervise outside counsel if litigation becomes necessary. Because of the level of expertise required, most corporations do not hire graduates directly out of law school for in-house counsel positions. Rather, they hire attorneys who have had at least two to three years' experience. However, some corporations do hire students as interns in their Legal Department during the academic year or during the summer, and/or evening students as full-time interns.

The most comprehensive resource for researching in-house legal departments is the Law & Business: Directory of Corporate Counsel, also available in our Resource Center.

Information on corporations: Lexis (www.lexis.com) Westlaw (www.westlaw.com).