A corporate lawyer is a specialist in civil law and economic issues. Works, as a rule, in large companies or government agencies. The main task of a corporate lawyer is to resolve the company’s business issues.
Responsibilities of a corporate lawyer
Regular drafting of contracts and other documents and, if necessary, representing the interests of the company in court. This profession is similar to the profession of a legal adviser, but a corporate lawyer differs in that he is a member of the staff of one company and represents only its interests.
The routine duties of a lawyer in any enterprise include:
- contractual work, development of contracts and their verification for compliance with legislation;
- registration of legal entities, as well as shares and issues;
- checking the legality of dismissals, fines for employees, etc.;
- regular consultations on legal issues of the company’s management and employees;
- making amendments to the company’s legal documents;
- participation in various transactions, development of regulations on them.
Also, a corporate lawyer must provide the organization with the necessary regulations and laws.
In a large company, a lawyer, as a rule, works not alone, but with a staff of assistants, or heads the legal department. However, he personally bears full responsibility for the actions of the organization.
Working as a corporate lawyer is always difficult, but he has one significant advantage over private legal advisers – one client. The nuances of working with it can be thoroughly studied over time. In addition, excellent work for the benefit of the company is always a plus when looking for a new job.
Requirements for the profession of a corporate lawyer
Since a corporate lawyer provides the legal side of the enterprise, he must be well informed about its business activities. At the very least, he should know what the company produces, as well as the regulations that govern his activities.
Required conditions for working as a corporate lawyer:
- Knowledge of labor, administrative, financial, tax law, by-laws and regulations of the Government, as well as local authorities;
- Knowledge of civil and criminal procedural law, standards of office work and execution of legal documents;
- Business correspondence and negotiation skills.
Basic requirements for a corporate lawyer:
- availability of specialized legal education;
- reaching the age of 21;
- At least four years of experience as a legal consultant;
- in some cases – lawyer status if it is required to represent the company in an arbitration or magistrate court. Accordingly, the presence of a case study of won cases is also welcome;
- knowledge of a foreign language (sometimes several).
Personal characteristics include resistance to stress, good memory and analytical skills, and the ability to apply laws and regulations in practice.
Where can I study to become a corporate lawyer?
In general, such a specialty as a corporate lawyer does not officially exist. This is simply a designation for a full-time employee of a business who deals with legal matters on behalf of his company.
That’s why they don’t teach corporate lawyers at any university – we are talking here about a universal legal education. The most common direction is “Jurisprudence”.
A characteristic feature of all legal specialties is early internships. You can earn extra money already in your final years of university.
In your final years at university, you can already start looking for a job, so by the end you will already have the necessary experience. To start your career, you can first work as an assistant to a corporate lawyer, and after receiving a diploma, become a full-fledged lawyer. You can also try to be a paralegal and work in legal consulting.
Demand for corporate lawyers and their salaries
Competent lawyers are required in any company. This is more convenient and profitable than attracting outside specialists every time. That is why the vacancy of a corporate lawyer (or legal assistant) is always at the top of job search advertisements.
The salary of a corporate lawyer varies quite widely, on average from 20,000 to 80,000 rubles. Lawyers without experience and assistants usually receive the minimum rate. The higher the experience, volume of work and responsibility, the higher the lawyer’s salary.
There is essentially no career growth for a corporate lawyer, unless he works as part of the legal department. However, with existing experience and knowledge, a corporate lawyer can change the type of activity and establish himself in a different legal profession. In addition, serious companies prefer not to waste valuable personnel.
Pros and cons of the profession of a corporate lawyer
The profession of a corporate lawyer has quite a lot of positive aspects, but there are also negative ones. In fact, all administrative and legal work and responsibility rests on his shoulders. You can hold on to such a position only with adequate pay.
Pros:
- prestige;
- high salary;
- developing useful connections.
Minuses:
- irregular working hours;
- high workload and responsibility;
- possible conflict situations;
- lack of career growth.