Working in-house

What are we trying to do

We want to help support and develop the 34,500 solicitors working in in-house across England and Wales by providing them a range of support and information specific to their needs, and the day-to-day challenges of their role.

Who needs to know

Solicitors working in in-house roles, and those they work with/for.

What's going on

More than 34,500 in-house solicitors are working in more than 6,000 organisations across England and Wales in a wide range of industries and public bodies. These range from multi-national corporations and government departments to high-street businesses, charities, educational establishments and local health authorities.

This important, influential, and diverse part of the profession plays a key role in helping organisations to behave legally, fairly and ethically.

We are committed to continuing to support the in-house community, and are developing a range of resources, guidance and wider materials specifically aimed at in-house solicitors and their employers.

Draft in-house guidance

Following on from our thematic review, and our wider programme of activity directly engaging with in-house solicitors, we have developed a range of draft resources and guidance materials, specifically tailored to the in-house sector.

We are publishing these materials in draft form to give the wider in-house community an opportunity to consider the content, and provide us with any feedback ahead of them being finalised.

Please provide any feedback, via our online form, by 19 April 2024.

The materials include:

• Guidance for employers on a solicitor's professional obligations
• Key points for governing boards and chief executives
• Guidance and case studies on identifying your client when working in-house
• Guidance and cases studies on reporting concerns about wrongdoing when working in-house
• Guidance on running internal investigations

In-house Annual Conference

In March 2024 – we brought together experts from across the private, public, and charity sectors to discuss and offer practical advice on a range of key issues facing in-house solicitors on a day-to-day basis.

You can watch back all the sessions and access conference resources on our in demand page.

Topics discussed included: What is in-house leadership?, maintaining competence in an in-house setting the role of a solicitor in leading and delivering an organization's environmental, social and governance (ESG) approach.

Join our virtual reference group

We are continuing to work closely with the in-house community to better understand your needs and develop new materials to support you on a day-to-day basis.

One of the ways we do this is by working with our in-house virtual reference group, as we did for example in developing the dedicated in-house guidance mentioned above. If you are potentially interested in getting involved with the is group, please contact us.