John Deere’s law department supports dual development tracks, according to “Leading Practices in Job Titles for In-House Lawyers: What Companies are Doing” (Assoc. Corp. Counsel, Aug. 2005 at 14).
It’s logical, isn’t it, that lawyers who manage other lawyers will tend to be more generalists, while those lawyers who concentrate in an area of law and specialize in it will tend not to have lawyers reporting to them. (See my post of July 30, 2005 on specialists co-reporting.)
The problem arises where pay and promotions depend on accumulating people who report to you. For many law departments with specialists, that’s wrong-headed.