Hey! Have you ever dreamed to become a corporate lawyer? If yes, or if you are simply interested in this profession, this article is for you! You we learn everything you need to know on corporate lawyers' work: their salary, what do they do, where do they work, what additional training do they need, and so much more! My motivation was to help students, like me, who once where completely lost in their career choice and needed more information about the different professions out there.
A corporate lawyer ensures the legal side to a commercial transaction. This type of lawyer usually builds contracts with clients and verified if those contracts respect the provincial, federal and sometimes international laws that they are subject to. In opposite to the other types of lawyer, a corporate lawyer work for both parts of the transaction. There is less competition between the clients then in the criminal field, for example.
Some corporate lawyers may exclusively do contracts for their clients. Other may work on the marketing and business development of the companies they help. Some may also work in some conflict resolution teams or in civil law, with insurances companies and harmed people. Lastly, some work on building up commercial awareness around the specific industry they serve.
There is no typical day as a corporate lawyer! The day you planned the night before can change completely in 30 seconds because of an urgent case or an amazing deal that your client needs to conclude as fast as possible. But in general, you work on your clients' contracts, in partnership with the corporate lawyer of the person they are trying to get a deal with.
Corporate lawyers usually work in a lawyer office, or in the law department of a company. The localization of your company will affect your daily work. For example, if you work in a small town, you may do more divorce settlement and house closing, but you will have a larger client base because the competition with other firms will be nonexistent. In opposition, if you work in a big town, you may deal international commercial transactions, but you will have to work harder to prove your worth.
Law school is very competitive. You need to attend a ''good'' school and have excellent grades to be able to earn the best internships. Your internships also influence the kind of job you will be able to obtain in the future.
In general, the starting salary is around $30 000 and $100 000. If you graduate from a top law school, you can expect a salary of $165 000. The average salary is around $98 822, but some corporate lawyers can get paid as much as $200 000 pear year.
To stay up-to-date, corporate lawyers need to know the recent development in the law fields that they use on a daily basis. They also need to check what is going around in their field of law around the world. They need to keep doing legal research to understand the tribunal jurisprudential trend.
Being a corporate lawyer is not a physical job, but you need to stay focused and the competition from your colleagues can be very stressful. The bigger dangers are depression, burnt out and low self-esteem.
Chances that corporate lawyers will be replaced by robots are very low. In fact, to be a corporate lawyer, you need to resolve problems, and they are never the same. Sure, robots could assist the lawyers by helping them keep the record of the solutions they have come up with, but robots don't have the imagination, the capacity to reflect and the negotiation skills that are required for the job.
Some lawyer retired very early, in their forties to go travel or to enjoy the luxurious lifestyle their hard work have given them. Some will only retired at 86, because they will become judges at 56, and they want to enjoy to the maximum their new career. A majority of the corporate lawyers will retire at 60, after a good career and will enjoy quality time with their family and their annual trip to Cuba. The paths are various.
I will soon apply to diverse universities. Will I be accepted in the most prestigious ones, like MC Gill? Or will I have to go to less famous ones, like UQAM (I have nothing against UQAM, their Law program is just not reputed)? It's important that I keep a good motivation level, because even if going to school is hard and not always fun, I have to remember myself that one day, this hard work will pay off.
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