why work in house attorney at hospital

Sometimes referred to as in-house counsel, this licensed attorney provides legal representation for the medical facility. The general counsel advises on tax laws, government healthcare regulations, and collective bargaining. Like many attorneys, general counsels at hospitals often earn six-figure salaries.

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What is the job description of a hospital lawyer?

The attorney will interact with business teams, communicating contract terms, resolve contractual disputes and furnish advice on various related matters. More... A minimum of five years experience in hospitals and health care preferred.

Why do attorneys go in-house?

You are a hero, not just in the eyes of your superiors but in the eyes of other attorneys as well. FACT: Partners and others make attorneys feel good about going in-house for one simple reason: That attorney might give them business in the future. This is a simple fact.

Should you work as an in-house or private practice attorney?

This Amelia Earhart quote is emblematic of the decision to work as an in-house or private practice attorney. It is a difficult decision to make, and making it does not make the path to that in-house job any easier.

How much does an in-house health lawyer make?

According to the American Health Lawyers Association, salaries of the top 25 percent of in-house counsel often exceeded $223,750, as of 2011. In fact, nearly 8 percent of respondents reported salaries in excess of $300,000 a year.

Who would not want to go in-house counsel after seeing one of these legal celebrations for departing...

Never in an attorney's career will she be lauded and made to feel so good about herself again. Who could not think this is the right thing after ge...

Who would not want to go in-house after working often inhumane hours inside of a law firm and being ...

That's right! If you are unhappy or overworked in one environment, a different environment surely looks better. Just like the tributes from The Hun...

Who would not want to be an in-house lawyer after being surrounded by LEGIONS of other associates an...

One of the most INSANE conversations I have with GOOD ATTORNEYS on a daily basis is when they tell me they are interested in going in-house. It doe...

When the company experiences some significant legal problems and most companies do you and others in...

Unless you have been hiding under a rock your entire career, you are surely aware that just about every company experiences various serious legal p...

What Is An In-House Attorney?

A corporate in-house attorney is an individual who works as an attorney for the company. The in-house attorney, like any other employee, is primari...

How Much Do In-House Counsels Make?

The average In-House Counsel salary in the United States is $235,512 as of October 29, 2021, but the salary range typically falls between $206,498...

What Work Does In-House Lawyers Do?

In-house lawyers often find themselves having to deal with day-to-day tasks such as: Drafting contracts and other instruments.Handling litigation,...

How To Become An In-House Counsel?

To become an In-House Counsel, you must first qualify as an Attorney and specialize in a field such as commercial contracts, intellectual property,...

In What Ways Do In-House Lawyers Have An Advantage Over External Lawyers?

In-house attorneys are similar to partners of law firms. Many attorneys specialize in a specific portion of the legal industry, but partners at maj...

Why are in house attorneys not competent?

Because in-house attorneys are seen as less competent, they are not the sort of attorneys the company is going to send work to when they leave. Regardless of what the attorney may think of themselves inside of the corporation, they are almost always regarded as less competent than outside attorneys.

What is the goal of an attorney?

The entire goal for an attorney's career has never changed: Your responsibility to yourself and your career is to get out there, meet people, make a name for yourself, and get some business. Once you have a stable book of clients, you are set and your career can continue indefinitely.

Can an attorney be blamed for a company's collapse?

In a company, an attorney can be blamed for its collapse due to some legal issue. The legions of these in-house attorneys out of jobs and permanently untouchable are profound. I talk to them almost weekly. It is an unfortunate but a real part of what happens to attorneys who go in-house.

Do attorneys go in house?

In most cases, attorneys who go in-house are going to face rapidly declining skills and an environment that does nothing to maintain their skills. Law firms are very good at keeping up the skills of their attorneys. For one, most attorneys inside of law firms are "specialists" and doing only one type of work.

What is an in-house lawyer?

Sometimes the role of the in-house lawyer comprises managing the work being performed by other attorneys. Such a managerial function can present important benefits to the organization. For example, in-house counsel can enhance the quality and value of outside counsel’s work product. The in-house counsel is in a unique position to appreciate both the organization’s legal issues and its overarching mission. Therefore, the goals of a particular legal assignment can be more concisely and accurately translated to the outside legal counsel. Likewise, the outside counsel’s work product can be reviewed by another legal mind, to ensure that legal issues are appropriately addressed.

Why do you hire an attorney?

Why hire an attorney? The answer is quite simple: attorneys are hired to help resolve legal issues. Why hire an in-house attorney? The answer to this question is often not quite so simple. Many factors can influence an organization’s decision of whether to hire an in-house legal counsel or create an in-house legal group.

Why is in-house counsel important?

The in-house counsel is in a unique position to appreciate both the organization’s legal issues and its overarching mission. Therefore, the goals of a particular legal ...

Why do in-house counsels need to be well-versed in the organization?

The in-house counsel must therefore become well-versed in the organization and its goals in order to effectively facilitate the organization’s legal and business objectives, and thus add value to justify being brought onboard.

What is an in-house counsel?

The in-house counsel is in a position to recognize legal issues at their outset, if not even before they occur. Such a function can prove invaluable to an organization. For instance, an organization generating and protecting technical knowledge may benefit from having an intellectual-property attorney, likely a patent attorney, ...

What is value added by having an in-house counsel?

Simply put, the value added by having the in-house counsel must at the very least outweigh his/her costs to the organization. Those costs can come in the form of salary and benefits paid to the in-house counsel, any additional costs that may accompany legal work (e.g., costs of legal research), and value of the legal work performed.

Can a legal assignment be reviewed by another legal mind?

Therefore, the goals of a particular legal assignment can be more concisely and accurately translated to the outside legal counsel. Likewise, the outside counsel’s work product can be reviewed by another legal mind, to ensure that legal issues are appropriately addressed.

What are the expectations of a lawyer?

Law firms have a traditional set of expectations for attorneys. Lawyers inside large law firms are expected to go to a law firm and specialize quickly. Associates are expected to work hard and impress partners for 7 to 11 years, develop skills in relating with clients and then make partner, take a counsel position or move to a smaller firm. Throughout your time in a law firm, it is expected that: 1 you will become increasingly competent in your work; 2 you will be given increased responsibility; 3 because of your developing skills and efficiency, your billing rate will increase each year; 4 the firm's clients will rely upon and trust you to an increasing degree; 5 you will develop more and more contacts that you will be able to leverage into portable business. 6 you will develop management skills and be able to supervise younger attorneys and paralegals.

Why do people go in house?

It is your life and being in house can release you from much of the pressure of the billable hour requirement and other stresses of being in a law firm. In addition, being in house typically has more predictable hours.

What happens when you go in house?

Very few attorneys realize just how much their skills are likely to deteriorate once they go in house. A large portion of the responsibility of many in house attorneys is to farm out challenging work to the appropriate law firms. Therefore, once you go in house you will often cease doing sophisticated legal work and, instead, merely hand off work to law firms. For some attorneys this is the ideal job. For other attorneys, this is not an ideal job because they no longer work directly on challenging legal work.

Why do law firms have checks and balances?

Every step of the way, a system of checks and balances is in place inside law firms to ensure that each lawyer inside a law firm produces outstanding work product.

Do attorneys consider distractions?

Indeed, many attorneys in large law firms consider anything that does not relate directly to the practice of law as something that is a distraction-even if it is spending time with family. An in house environment can often give you your life back.

Do attorneys reap economic windfall?

The overwhelming majority of attorneys do not reap an economic windfall when they go in house; It is very difficult to move to another in-house job once you have gone in house; Your legal skills are likely to deteriorate once you go in house; and, You may have to work as hard in house as you did in a law firm. A.

Do law firms go out of business?

Obviously, it is not accurate to state the law firms do not go out of business. However, when a law firm such as Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison goes out of business, it is considered a "monumental" event in the legal community because it is so exceedingly rare for law firms to go out of business in the first place.

Why do lawyers want to move in house?

The Law Firm Lifestyle Can Be A Grind. First and foremost, most law firm attorneys want to move in-house because they have grown weary of the law firm lifestyle. They tell me that they are working too many hours and have to be in the office too long most days. If you add a commute on top of those long hours, it can really wear you down.

Why is my view of law firms so myopic?

Your view of law firms can become very myopic and jaded because you assume that most firms operate in the same way and that culture will not vary from firm to firm. Associates frequently tell me that although they are unhappy at their firms, they will not consider going to another firm because it’s more of the same.

Do lawyers have to work long hours to move in house?

The desire to move in-house job seems to have a consistent theme – lawyers feel that they have no control over their schedules at a law firm. It is not just that they have to work long hours, but that the hours are often unpredictable.

Do in-house lawyers have more control over their schedules?

In-house lawyers who made the transition from law firms to companies when they were still associates report that they feel more control over their schedules than they did at the law firms. The one consistent response I hear from in-house attorneys is that although they may not work less than they did at law firms, they do have a more predictable work schedule. They tell me that they can make social plans ahead of time, and can usually keep those plans – something that did not happen at their law firms. At companies, in-house lawyers feel that they have a better sense of what their day is going to look like, and what is on their to-do list. For most in-house lawyers, that sense of predictability is worth any trade-off they made relative to compensation and dreams of becoming a law firm partner.

Associate General Counsel

Under the direction of the Senior Vice President and General Counsel, provides legal advice, guidance, and representation to the Texas Hospital Association (THA…

Staff Attorney - Hospital Services

This attorney also supports hospital staff in matters related to joint commission and CMS surveys.

Assistant Counsel (Hospital and Healthcare Operations)

Provides advice and counsel to hospital personnel relating to patient care and business issues.

Assistant General Counsel

The Assistant General Counsel provides legal advice and counsel to the organization in support of its business activities and operations.

Associate Corporate Counsel

The Associate Corporate Counsel is responsible for providing legal support and advice to the Company on a variety of litigation and employment law matters in…

Assistant County Attorney - Hospital District (Transactions..

Serves as legal representative for various Harris Health hospital committees, operational committees and work groups.

Assistant General Counsel - Remote

The attorney will interact with business teams, communicating contract terms, resolve contractual disputes and furnish advice on various related matters.

Salary Ranges

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, lawyers averaged $130,880 a year, as of 2012. Those acting as general counsel for hospitals brought home closer to $150,340 annually. This was an increase of nearly 3 percent from the previous year, when salaries averaged at $146,590.

Outlying Salaries

According to the American Health Lawyers Association, salaries of the top 25 percent of in-house counsel often exceeded $223,750, as of 2011. In fact, nearly 8 percent of respondents reported salaries in excess of $300,000 a year.

Other Medical Settings

Healthcare-related general counselors at physicians' offices earned the highest average salaries in 2012 at $241,870 -- 61 percent higher than at hospitals. General counsel at specialty hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturers earned $176,710 and $166,220, respectively.

Career Outlook

The BLS expects employment opportunities for lawyers to grow 10 percent between 2010 and 2020, compared to 14 percent for all U.S. occupations. That equates to about 78 new jobs at general medical hospitals.

Can an attorney go in house?

The fact is, some attorneys simply will not have the opportunity to go in-house because of the type of law they practice. Opportunity: Going into a company can change a lawyer’s career path because it can expose one to potentially significant management responsibilities, organizational charts of opportunity, compliance and regulations, ...

Is there a cap on law firms?

Compensation: With no cap at law firms, generally, it can be hard to justify moving in-house, perceiving a significant pay-cut awaits. However, when you start to add in health benefits and deferred compensation (e.g., bonuses; 401k/match; stock; equity), the annual out of pocket cost comparison and long-term benefits can weigh more positively on ...

General questions

Many interviews begin with a series of basic questions to give the hiring manager an opportunity to learn about your work ethic and personality. These conversation-starter questions offer you the opportunity to share your talents and professional goals. Some examples of basic questions are:

Questions about experience and background

Questions about your specific skills and background will inform the employer how well your work history aligns with the role for which you are interviewing. Here are some sample questions regarding background and experience:

In-depth interview questions for in-house counsel

In-depth questions allow the hiring manager to see how well you might fit into the corporate culture and perform the specific job. These are often situational examples where you share examples of how you problem-solve, deal with conflict or handle specific workplace situations.

Interview questions with sample answers for in-house counsel

Organizations frequently use behavioral questions during interviews based on the philosophy that how you handled a situation in the past indicates how you will behave in the future if faced with a similar situation. When an interviewer asks a behavioral question, the STAR method offers a helpful framework for structuring your response.

Interview tips

These tips will help you present yourself in a confident and professional manner so you can make a great impression with the organization:

Cost-Saving Functions

• More often than not, finances are a key driving force behind an organization’s decisions. Therefore, among the most common reasons to bring an in-house counsel onboard is to help control the organization’s expenses, and in particular, its legal expenses. Depending on the organization, this in-house legal counsel can have a general or specialized le...

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Managing Outside Counsel

Performing Legal Work In-House

The In-House Counsel Can Be An Asset as An Attorney on The Inside