| Qualifications | | | | corporate attorneys work in excess of 60 hours a |
| To be a lawyer, one needs to be a qualified in the field | | | | week. |
| of law. To be a graduate in law, it takes four years in | | | | What Does A Corporate Lawyer Do? |
| undergraduate school and three years' specialization in | | | | A corporate lawyer mostly works in the legal |
| law through a law school. In this case, specialization | | | | department of a business, as a legal advisor. Their |
| would be in corporate law. To practice law, you need | | | | work includes dealing with issues of taxes, employee |
| a license. To get the license, you first need to pass the | | | | rights, amalgamations, mergers and acquisitions. In |
| bar exam - an examination that will test your | | | | short, a corporate lawyer has to ensure the legality of |
| knowledge, character and attitude. After the test, | | | | commercial transactions. There are other types of |
| students are then recruited by law firms. | | | | practice a corporate lawyer could undertake, and not |
| Junior Corporate Associate | | | | all lawyers do the same type of job. Some provide |
| As a junior corporate lawyer, you will be learning things | | | | advice on legal or/and non-legal issues to the |
| the hard way. As a junior corporate associate, you | | | | corporation. In this area, the work of a corporate |
| have to do the grunt work of organizing documents, | | | | lawyer starts from the formation a corporation and |
| faxing, proofreading, copying, scheduling meetings, etc. | | | | goes on through the life of the business. Until it is |
| In addition to these, the junior associate also has | | | | dissolved. |
| various other duties. These duties can be classified into | | | | The articles of incorporation of a company (i.e. the |
| various categories such as drafting contracts and | | | | documents that deal with the formation of the |
| conducting reviews, preparing filings, due diligence and | | | | corporation and the structure of the management, of |
| writing of memoranda. A lot of a junior associates' | | | | its internal affairs) are drafted by the corporate lawyer. |
| time is spend doing research work. A lot of trial and | | | | They also have to investigate the best entity for a |
| error work goes on into drafting contracts, security | | | | particular business (i.e. partnership, limited liability |
| disclosure statements and corporate resolutions - and | | | | partnership, limited liability companies). |
| these are things that are not necessarily taught in law | | | | Each corporate lawyer's duties are different, and this |
| school. The junior associate, at times, has to spend a | | | | adds to the appeal of the profession. Because each |
| lot of time proofreading. | | | | entity has its own set of responsibilities, rights, tax |
| A law firm may later offer a junior associate the role | | | | structure and organizational structure, corporate |
| of a partner. This involves working on individual | | | | lawyers have to be resourceful and persistent in their |
| projects and having junior associates working for you. | | | | work. If this is you, and you have the stamina to |
| So to be a good corporate leader, you will need to be | | | | undertake a rigorous educational program and then |
| hard working, diligent and possess excellent problem | | | | pass the bar exam, then a career in corporate law |
| solving skills. A corporate lawyer gets paid extremely | | | | may be right for you. |
| well, but the job it involves a lot of hard work. Many | | | | |