Your Place in the In-House Hierarchy

There are certain key differences in the structure of in house environments versus that of law firms.

In a law firm hierarchy, junior associates report to senior associates and/ or counsel or partners. 

Each in house corporate structure has its own organizational chart. In one, there may only be three lawyers, in others there may be layers of lawyers with different kinds of titles—senior, assistant, deputy, associate, vice president, senior vice president. 

How do you expect the prospective employer to know what your title means?

Help the reader to understand where you are in your own company’s particular universe. How many people do you supervise? What kinds of people-- lawyers, investigators, patent prosecutors, assistant counsel, etc.Who do you report to? Do you have dual reporting responsibilities—ex., an attorney supporting sales might be embedded in an operations division and report to both the head of the operations and someone in legal. If you are one of only a handful of people with your status, say so—i.e., “ Sole Deputy GC.  Direct Report to the General Counsel.”