Year after year, chief legal officers and general counsel identify ethics and compliance as a top legal challenge for in-house counsel, according to reports from the Association of Corporate Counsel. And The Wall Street Journal pointed out in 2014 that fines and penalties have led to a “compliance hiring spree” at companies.

With compliance top of mind for executives, in-house lawyers should consider it as an alternative career path, said Kim Yapchai, chief compliance officer at Whirlpool Corp. who has previously worked as an attorney at Masco Corp. and Ford Motor Credit Co.

“I think that not all lawyers realize that there's probably more demand for compliance people right now than there are people to fill the positions,” she said.