Choosing Corporate Law as future? Know pros and cons

What Is Corporate Law?

Corporate law deals with the formation of corporations and their dealings with each other, with other businesses, and in interactions with the various levels of government, tax organisations, and the public.

Corporations, like every business, operate under a series of state and federal laws in each country. The role of a company attorney is to make sure that the corporation is working within these laws. Corporate attorneys will deal with contracts, cases where the corporation is being sued, shareholder issues, and more. Corporate attorneys will often be involved in areas like taxes, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions.

What Is Litigation?

Litigation is that the practice of taking a case to court to resolve a dispute or charge someone with a criminal offense . Litigation lawyers will add consultation with their client and represent their case and best interests to the court, with either a judge or a jury to urge their client a favourable outcome.

They’ll also affect the opposing litigation lawyer, attempting to resolve the dispute and are available to an agreement between both parties in favour of their client.

Many cases are often taken to court for litigation like divorce, small claims, criminal, etc. They can also deal with cases whereby their client is being sued is suing another party.

Pros Of Going  In Corporate

It’s a troublesome gig making it as a competent corporate attorney, but there are a couple of major benefits you’ll expect.

Salary

Corporate law is that the highest paid field of law you’ll practice, so you’ll expect to receive a way better salary compared to litigation lawyers with an equivalent amount of experience as you.

Notoriety

If you’re lucky and are an exceptional student, you could potentially land a graduate gig at a major corporation and have the prestige that is associated with working at a big company. You can work your way up the chain and eventually hold a senior position at a global corporation that is recognised globally.

Additional Perks

Depending on the company of course, but you may find you get additional perks like a company car, phone, and even generous salary bonuses each year. Not to mention you can get expenses paid to major seminars and conferences in your industry, which only increases your knowledge and career opportunities.

Demand

There will always be a requirement for somebody together with your skill set and expertise. You can expect to possess demand globally wherever corporations exist, particularly if you become fluent in other languages or grasp concepts like international corporate law.

More Specialised

The fact is that corporate attorneys are few and much between compared to litigation lawyers. This means that there is much less competition for jobs compared to if you were a litigation lawyer. You may also find corporations and law firms chasing you for your skills supported your specialised level of experience and knowledge.

Cons Of Being A Corporate Attorney

Just like with anything, there are a couple of notable cons you’ll expect being a company attorney which will cause you to choose the trail of litigation instead.

Long Work Hours

Corporate attorneys often work long hours, so don’t expect to necessarily work a typical 9-5 schedule. In fact, with the endless stream of corporate duties then you will probably be working overtime every day.

Working In Isolation

Don’t expect to be always working with other people. There are going to be many days where you may be required to work on activities that require little or any interaction with others. Think of long days rummaging through contracts and other important legal documents to make sure they’re legally sound.

If The Economy Is Struggling…

Then it’s quite possible you’ll also struggle. If companies got to cut costs then they’ll lay off staff and company attorneys are included during this bracket. During any tough economic times, companies won’t hesitate to drop attorneys to save money.

Not As Many Jobs

While corporate attorneys are highly in demand, the reality is that there is more work in litigation areas compared to corporate. Everywhere in the country, every day a new litigation case is brought to light, and as long as you are trained in litigation law then you can do this kind of work.

Harder To Start Your Own Law Firm

When you’re in corporate law, it’s much harder to start out your own firm compared to a litigation firm . Many litigation lawyers plan to work for themselves at some point and begin their own law firms. Whereas, for corporate, the opportunities to do the same are much fewer.

No Contingency Fee Basis

One real monetary perk of litigation law is the contingency fee basis whereby a litigation lawyer takes a mammoth case to court, wins, and earns a large sum of money. Some lawyers in these cases have made hundreds of thousands and even millions. This type of model isn’t possible with corporate law.

If you need help with any corporate law or litigation matters, get in touch with us today and we’ll answer all the questions you may have.

Author: Aditya Singh,
Amity Law School, Noida/ 2nd year