Samantha Von Hoene, head of legal affairs with Enjoy Technology. Courtesy Photo.

Samantha Von Hoene was in an enviable position. It was her second year of law school at UC Hastings, and her hard work and good grades had secured her a summer internship at a midsized firm. It seemed she was on track for a promising, traditional career in law.

Until she turned it down.

To the shock of her professors, peers and most other people in her life, Von Hoene politely rejected the offer and went to Silicon Valley, interning in-house at a finance firm.

“Most people said, 'Oh Sam, you're so crazy, the rest of us are going to the law firm first, and we want to go in-house but [on] the traditional route,'” Von Hoene said. “It seemed like they'd already resigned themselves to this route. I was viewed as someone who was taking a different path.”

Three years later, that path's paid off. Now Von Hoene is the head of legal affairs at Enjoy Technology Inc., a tech startup that sends experts to deliver, install and explain how to use technology products from companies such as Sonos and AT&T Inc. to consumers. She's the only lawyer at the growing business, so she's getting hands-on experience with a variety of legal and business issues. She says there's never a dull moment.

“When I got to Enjoy there were no guidelines. It was like that [idea of] 'hey, we're scrappy and we want to move quickly and here's what we wanna do,'” she said. “I've spent the past two and a half years working with teams and internal clients. Over 50 percent of my day is in cross-functional and operational meetings.”

It's this type of fast-paced, hands-on action and innovation that's pulling more young lawyers in-house straight out of school, especially around Silicon Valley. The traditional route—sitting silently in meetings and handling grunt work at a firm for a few years—doesn't appeal to a generation that is known for a drive to find purpose and see tangible results in the workplace.

Lindsey Pollak, an expert and consultant on millennials, says the youngest members of the workforce don't want to wait 10 years for their turn. They want to make an impact now.

“I think finding a purpose and feeling connected to a purpose through your work has been a significant trend among a large portion of millennials,” Pollak said. “That doesn't mean previous generations didn't care about purpose, but we believed that purpose was something you achieved over time. What's new is the desire to feel an impact as soon as possible, to feel a purpose right away.”

Professors and career service professionals in the Bay Area have also noticed more students considering a straight-to-in-house route out of law school. UC Hastings College of the Law has even begun a Startup Legal Garage to match students with startup companies so they can get experience and contacts.  Jessica Ourk, the school's Director for Employer Relations, says she's seen the number of students going directly in-house rise over the past six years.

Kirupa Pushparaj, head IP counsel at Square Inc. and an adjunct professor at Stanford Law School, is almost a millennial himself. He has seen a change in the way law students, especially in the Bay Area, look at their postgraduate options.

“I've been teaching for six years and every year, most people don't even want to go to a law firm anymore, which is such a radical shift from where it was 10 years ago,” Pushparaj said. “People want to get into government jobs and nonprofits as well. People want to find that purpose.”

And this influx of young, driven, purpose-seeking millennials is changing how in-house teams approach culture and problem solving. Their passionate approach, sources say, makes millennials more likely to speak up during meetings, express their opinions to superiors and take on learning new types of law.

“There used to be a time when people felt confined to their roles,” Pushparaj said. “At Square, [for instance], we don't feel like we're developing a strong trademark attorney, we like to develop people out as full on counsel. That sense of not wanting to be confined is a good shift in things, people feel their values are heard, their thoughts are heard.”

It's a cultural shift that works especially well at startups, where things tend to grow quickly and a small group of lawyers must be prepared for new and unique legal challenges. Smaller companies can give new in-house lawyers a bigger role that allows them to work with employees inside and outside of the legal department.

But it's not the only culture shift. Millennials, despite their constant access to smartphones, place more emphasis on work-life balance than a lot of their co-workers of other generations, says Pushparaj. Younger workers want to have a life outside of work, he says, and in-house jobs, particularly at startups, align better with those values than positions at firms. Work-life balance isn't just a discussion for employees with children anymore.

“In general, there is more of a focus on work-life balance,” Pushparaj said. “There's more flexibility. If you find better work-life balance in doing your stuff at 8 p.m, that's your decision. We hire people because we trust them.”

When they are in the office, however, millennials want more interaction with their colleagues. There's a desire to form real relationships with others at work to create a welcoming, exciting environment, sources say. That includes getting to know those in positions above them as mentors and equals, with more transparency than in previous generations.

“When I can go on the internet and tweet at world leaders, it's a disconnect when you can't go talk to the partner that's working on your deal,” Pollak said. “They're supposed to be colleagues and yet you have less access to them than people halfway across the world. That's challenging for millennials.” 

Pollak understands millennials' temptation to skip the traditional law firm route to go directly in-house, but she's cautioned that young lawyers need to make sure they're not missing crucial steps in their career development for instant gratification.

“I'd caution anyone who wants to skip steps because a lot of those steps can be important building blocks to a career,” she said. “Make sure you aren't missing out on important things by not being in that firm culture.” 

But for Von Hoene, taking a risk on going in-house is one she doesn't regret. In fact, it's one she hopes more young lawyers will consider when planning their career options after graduation.

“A hope of mine is that people in the industry start making pathways where others who are younger in their career have opportunities to prove themselves,” Von Hoene said. “This is a really exciting, new way of thinking. While young lawyers may not bring 10 years of experience, just fresh out of law school, they're hungry. They want to identify problems and figure out solutions, which is far more valuable.”