Is it easy to shift to an in-house job after working in IBC or IPR practise for a few years? Considering both legal areas have some overlap with the work of an in-house counsel.

IPR alone will get you solely through FMCG companies; IP+TMT is the sweet spot for Fintechs, Banks and what not - where the real money lies now. IBC will max get you a FRI (Forensic, Restructuring & Integrity*) team spot at a Big4 or likewise; let alone nil experience in consortium work, project finance and general banking advisory. That being said, a broader bend of expertise will help you bag higher paying positions in-house (without a CS/CA/CFA/MBA/LLM tag) since vacancies are few and market seeks qualifications rather than expertise most of the times.

Thanks a lot for the informed reply!

Would you mind shedding light on the relevance of TMT experience in Banks?

Sure, every Bank is now branching out into composite credit schemes/new policies for its credit card systems for which the need for data protection, licensing, strategic joint venture strategies have been on a boom (before dotting the deal with tech enablers, privacy consulting MNCs and so on). This will require expertise of IPR, TMT and some bit of M&A - from the lens of a Bank or a Fintech. For which I believe one should first aim at joining a TMT team of leading firms like Trilegal, Khaitan, IndusLaw or NDA; and then lateral after 3-4 years of understanding the legal side as well as the business side of TMT (along with both its IPR and M&A takeaways). Hope that helps, best of luck!

What about disputes? What kind of in-house roles are available to disputes lawyers?