Congratulations. You have secured your first role as an In-house lawyer.

It is your first day. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. That’s promising.

Your organisation has engaged one or more in-house lawyers previously. The immediately previous incumbent may or may not still be in the business. Where do you start?

This Practice Note is the first in a series aimed to help you Get started in your new role and rapidly become an effective part of your organisation. It sets out some practical steps you should make time to complete in your first few weeks, together with some longer-term projects that you should keep in mind and for which you should start to prepare. Each of those practical steps is expanded upon in more detail in further Precedents, Practice Notes and Checklists.

This Practice Note is intended for a new in-house lawyer joining an organisation to replace the organisation’s previous in-house lawyer. If you are taking up your first role as an in-house lawyer in an organisation that has not had