you could get stuck just b/c nothing else is out there when you're ready to switch. If that's the case, and you passed up a better long-term job (e.g., a solid mid-size firm in SLC), you might regret having taken that BigLaw job in the first place. It's not that it reduced your opportunities. It's that you took it over another opportunity that no longer exists.

But all of that is "what if." And you can't plan your life that way. A million things could happen. Figure out what job you want long-term and then take the path most likely to lead to that job. Your plans and circumstances could change, but you can't yet know how.

FWIW, I think "in-house litigator" is sort of like "environmental lawyer." An elusive Loch Ness Monster of a job that may or may not exist, but that lots of law students really, really want to find.