How to Become a Corporate Lawyer

About Corporate Lawyer

Candidates who complete their degree in law with a specialisation in Corporate Law and go on to build a professional career in the same field are known as Corporate Lawyers. As corporate lawyers, the overall job of candidates is to ensure and check the legality of all commercial transactions of the company or organisation for which they work. Corporate Lawyers also have to advise their corporations regarding their duties and legal rights and this is inclusive of the responsibilities and duties of the corporate officers of that organisation. The role of a corporate lawyer affects the whole organisation at large and they represent their corporations on the legal front. It comes upon the Corporate Lawyer to resolve any controversy that is faced by the company and offer legal solutions for the same. Corporate Lawyers also have an important role to play in internal investigations in which they have to look over the attorney-client privilege so that they can be considered to shelter any potential wrong doing by the company.

Eligibility to become Corporate Lawyer

In order to pursue a career as a Corporate Lawyer, the candidate has to meet certain eligibility criteria. The conditions required to be fulfilled by a student so as to be eligible for becoming a Corporate Lawyer are given below.

• Candidates must have completed an undergraduate degree of law (LL.B, B.A. LL.B., etc.).
• The university or college from which they complete their bachelors must be recognised.
• Those who have a postgraduate degree of LLM with a specialisation in Corporate Law are also eligible for the job.
• Apart from possessing the necessary educational qualifications, the student must also have done internships in proper law firms in order to boost their resume and get an understanding of the work of Corporate Lawyer.
• The candidates must have a balanced amalgamation of theoretical as well as practical learning about the field before starting the career of a Corporate Lawyer.

Types of Job Roles Corporate Lawyer

If a candidate wishes to step into the professional practice of a Corporate Lawyer and has met the eligibility criteria for the same, he/ she can proceed into the job market with two options for building his/ her career in. After completing their law degrees, candidates can either start working at a law firm or can be employed at any other organisation or company. The job opportunities offered at both of these sectors vary from each other. A detailed description of these job roles is given below.

Law Firm:

The career opportunities for Corporate Lawyers in a law firm are mentioned here. Corporate Lawyers at law firms do not have to surrender their licence. Usually, the top law firms hire students from the leading law colleges of the country like the National Law Universities. Students from these leading colleges apply for internships at the law firms like Khaitan and Company, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Company, Anand and Anand, Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan, Trilegal India, etc. and are given pre-placement offers if their performance during the internship is outstanding.

Associate

An associate of a law firm can be a junior or a senior attorney. Associates are viewed as the employees of the partners and are usually freshers who have just stepped into the professional venture of Corporate Law. An associate has to carry out the day-to-day legal work for their clients as directed by the partners. They have to usually work within a team, under the supervision of a senior associate or partner. The supervision is liable to change with the increasing experience of the associate. The work allotted to an associate depends largely on the size of the firm. An associate is expected to manage his/ her own time and workload so as to progress matters and bill the required time.

Senior Associate

The post of a senior associate is one step ahead than that of an associate. After an associate has worked at a law firm for a specific number of years and performed all his/ her duties well, he/ she is promoted to the level of a senior associate. The responsibilities of a senior associate are more complex than those of associates. They deal with bigger issues of their clients and have a team working under them. Senior Associates at law firms may or may not be supervised by the partner. 

Partner 

The partner of a law firm is responsible for running the daily administrative services of the firm. Partners directly supervise the legal and technical support teams of the law firm. They also have the responsibility of coordinating the new cases that are assigned to the firm. Managing vendor relationships, the office budget and looking over the legal support on staff resources of the law firm are some other things that partners have to take care of. Additionally, the partner has to develop and implement office initiatives while also ensuring that the law firm remains compliant with federal, state, and local regulations. They are in charge of various case assignments and have to make sure that the workload on their employees is balanced and fair.

Employment:

The requirement of corporate lawyers is also prevalent in most of the companies and organisations in almost all sectors of the industry. Nowadays, all corporations have their individual corporate lawyers who represent the company on the legal front. It is essential for organisations to hire corporate lawyers so that they can diffuse any controversial situation that the company might land into. Candidates being recruited as Corporate Lawyers at such organisations will have to surrender their license. The job roles offered to law graduates in the employment sector are explained below.

In House Counsel

Graduates with a degree in law with a specialisation in Corporate Law are usually hired as in house counsel at various organisers. They become advisors to that corporation and provide guidance in legal matters. The job of an advisor is to ensure that the company does not tread any path without knowing the legal aspects regarding it. They also manage all the legal documents of the corporation and ensure that the employees are aware of all the relevant details.

Industry Expert

Industry experts have complete knowledge about their organisation and help it function smoothly. They provide legal insight to all the transactions, business negotiations, and contracts that the corporation makes with other bodies. Industry experts are at a higher designation that in house counsel and cater to more complex cases and responsibilities.

Chief Legal Manager

A legal manager, or the designated Corporate Lawyer, of a company, is completed responsibly for all the legal matters of the organisation. He/ she has to be an expert in commercial law and has to ensure that the transactions made by the company comply with the laws and regulations of corporate. Corporate Lawyers represent the company or their client as its legal face and have to look over the entire legal proceedings, even at the smallest level.

Employment Sector/ Industry for Corporate Lawyers

There are innumerable job opportunities for corporate lawyers in many sectors. Some of the most popular sectors of the industry which hire corporate lawyers are given below.

• Law Firms
• Corporate Firms
• Law Institutions
• Courts
• Judiciary
• Law Enforcement Agencies
• Consultancy 

Top Recruiting Companies for a Corporate Lawyer

Here are some of the leading companies that hire corporate lawyers.

• Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Company
• Khaitan and Company
• Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan
• Trilegal India
• Anand and Anand
• Sagar Associates
• DSK Legal
• AZB and Partners
• Vaish Associates
• Phoenix Legal
• Desai and Dewanji
• S&R Associates

Employment Sector/Industry for Corporate Lawyer

Corporate lawyers are tasked with safeguarding the legality of commercial transactions, representing companies and advising corporate employees of their legal rights and duties. It generally focuses on how corporate and companies interact externally through commercial transactions and internally through corporate governance. Corporate lawyers serve only one client - the corporation they work for. As a corporate lawyer, you will be called upon to handle a variety of legal tasks including corporate taxes, mergers and acquisitions, corporate structure issues, employment law, and government reporting.

Corporate lawyers will generally need to be knowledgeable in a wide range of legal fields and will need to be able to handle a large number of issues. Some corporations will hire multiple lawyers and each will be a specialist in one or two areas of corporate law.

Pay Scale/Salary of Corporate Lawyer

he field of law pays its employees quite well provided they work at a well-known organisation. Many law firms even pay their interns well enough. The salary of a corporate lawyer increases as his/ her work experience increases. The growth of a corporate lawyer’s salary depends highly upon his/ her performance professionally. The salary of a corporate lawyer is directly dependent on the firm at which he/ she works as bigger and popular firms pay their employees much more as compared to the smaller firms.

The beginning salary of a fresher at the general tier 1 corporate firms is about Rs. 15 lakh per annum. The lowest package offered to corporate lawyers can go down to Rs. 3 lakh per annum.

This table will show you the average salary of Employee having an LLB Degree:

Pros of becoming a Corporate Lawyer

• Corporate Lawyers are paid quite well at law firms and companies as well. The salary package offered to candidates is quite lucrative and increases if the performance is good.
• If a candidate is good at his/ her work, he/ she can also get involved in policymaking. Corporate Lawyers can be hired for making policies of the government.
• Corporate do not have to go to courts for their job. They work from the convenience of their offices and their job does not require them to travel to places.

Cons of becoming a Corporate Lawyer

• The job of a Corporate Lawyer comes with a lot of work pressure. Lawyers have to work for most of their day and have a hectic schedule.
• At times, the work of a Corporate Lawyer gets monotonous and it does not have anything new to offer.