The corporate law field is one diverse profession that deals with both legal and business sectors. A corporate lawyer primarily covers business transactions, governance, contracts, and other related legalities involving the daily functioning of any business. An extensive and well-sought after profession, studying law and becoming a lawyer might be a little more tricky than you imagined!
It’s wise if you do your research right before you can invest in becoming a lawyer in the corporate field. So without wasting any further time, let’s dive straight into the hard work that goes into becoming a corporate lawyer – the qualifications and skills that you need, the processes involved, and other related topics.
What Does A Corporate Lawyer Do?
Wondering what does corporate lawyers do is naturally essential to finding out before you can decide to become one! More often than not, corporate attorneys deal with legal issues involving corporate business matters. In most cases, these lawyers are responsible for handling legal, financial, and business functions for clients.
A Corporate attorney is likely to represent clients inside court, if necessary. For example, corporate attorneys are responsible for corporate taxes, acquisitions, and mergers. These busy experts are often in charge of negotiating business agreements, verifying accounts for transaction purposes, and taking general care of regular business legalities.
Thus, the basic functions of any corporate lawyer are as follows,
- To negotiate agreements and contracts.
- To list companies on stock markets.
- To offer an all-around legal council.
- To assist with legal frameworks for selling or resurrecting companies.
- To sell assets and shares.
- To handle legalities involving employment matters.
- To collaborate on decisions related to strategic legalities.
As a corporate attorney, you will be required to interact with various corporate entities, inclusive of partnerships, and alliances. You can choose to work with a legal firm or alone in the corporate law field.
How To Become A Corporate Lawyer?
The number of corporate attorney jobs is only increasing owing to increasing demands in the legal world. Thus, you can easily become a corporate lawyer and choose a career that is only growing, but only if you follow the steps mentioned below.
1. Pass Your Boards (10th And 12th, Specifically)
One of the basic requirements of becoming a corporate lawyer is passing your 10+2. These are pre-university courses that basically focus on a holistic approach to education, letting children learn humanities, science, and commerce. So, if you are not going to appear for these primary and intermediate levels, you can say goodbye to your corporate law dreams.
2. Appear For CLAT
CLAT stands for Common Law Admission Test, and it is necessary for pursuing your law dreams at any of the 22 national universities. If you want to sit for CLAT, you need at least a 45% aggregate from your 10+2 or an equivalent degree from any recognized board. After qualifying CLATs, you can enroll for B.A. LL.B is an undergraduate degree that also happens to be a five-year integrated course.
Now, if you don’t want to appear for CLAT, you can consider sitting for entrance exams for the same degree from private law colleges around the country. At the same time, you can also consider appearing for CLATs after finishing a three-year graduate degree (LL.B) and then swiftly enrolling for a Master’s degree (LL.M). But you need at least a 50% aggregate for this.
The other law entrance tests which you can consider are as follows
3. Research The Law Colleges
Without research, there is no job in the world that can satisfy you. If you want to become a corporate lawyer because you are passionate about the same, you have to consider where you want to study and why you want to study there. In fact, we would suggest starting researching while you are preparing for your 10+2 exams and CLATs.
Take your time and review the quality of education, placements, faculty, and framework offered by law colleges. Although the popular law schools can appear to be aggressively competitive yet, if you do consider these schools, understand they will only help your career in the long run.
4. Network And Upgrade Your Legal Skillset
The corporate law field is pretty competitive, and you need opportunities to gain some amount of corporate experience. Consider internship opportunities or any part-time opportunity with law firms that are local so that you can pursue your degree and internship simultaneously. Working while pursuing your degree can help you network and, at the same time, assist you in upgrading your skillset.
5. Qualify For The Bar Exam
After completing your five years, or three in some cases, you need to qualify and pass the AIBE, which stands for All Indian Bar Exam. The BCI or Bar Council Of India holds this exam and subsequently issues the certificate of practice. In case you didn’t know, this is considered compulsory for practicing law in this country.
If you want to become a corporate litigation lawyer, we would also suggest opting for a Master’s degree sooner or later to advance in your career.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Ans: To become a corporate lawyer, you need to complete your Bachelor of Law degree, which is also known as B.A. LL.B. After graduation, it is mandatory to sit for the All Indian Bar Exam or AIBE, as conducted by the Bar Council Of India or BCI.
Ans: Yes, corporate lawyers do make a lot of money. And they just don’t enjoy high-paying jobs and lucrative salaries but also incentives and perks that can make any other profession jealous. However, the hours of work that these lawyers put in every day it is surreal, and as a result, the jobs pay so well.
Ans: The richest lawyers in India are as follows,
⦿ Ram Jethmalani
⦿ Kapil Sibal
⦿ Fali Sam Nariman
⦿ Soli Jehangir Sorabjee, and
⦿ Kesava Parasaran
Wrapping Up:
So if you plan on becoming a corporate lawyer, you will need to follow the steps mentioned above, but that’s not all. You will also need the association of corporate counsel to start your career in corporate law. In that case, what are you waiting for?
Don’t forget to mention in the comments below your thoughts on the same!
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