In-House Myths

Abstract

Prevailing myths hold that in-house legal departments offer an attractive work-life balance and equality in their promotion policies, if only in contrast to the hypercompetitive and glass ceiling practice realities at large law firms. This article challenges both myths. While in-house departments do offer greater flexibility, they increasingly impose on the personal lives of their lawyers, sometimes in less than obvious ways. And while in-house departments have a better gender record than large law firms in terms of promotion to senior positions of power and influence, they nonetheless feature similar patterns of implicit gender discrimination. In-house myths obscure implicit discrimination by suggesting that one can opt out of the problem and that it may not afflict all segments of the profession. Disproving these myths, the article attempts to refocus attention on the complex problem and subtle manifestations of implicit discrimination in (and outside) the house.