Futureproof your career with a degree in Corporate Law

A corporate lawyer’s work entails executing mergers and acquisitions (M&A), restructuring of corporate entities and hiving off loss-making divisions

Corporate Law is one of the most sought-after career options among law aspirants these days. A career in law offers huge scope for a corporate lawyer as he can land a high paying job in law firms, administrative services, corporate houses, law agencies, and the likes. The breadth of opportunities is simply massive.

Candidates have the option of studying corporate law either as part of one of the core subjects at undergraduate level, or as a specialisation at postgraduate level.

Attributes you require to be a successful corporate lawyer:

In order to be successful in the field of Corporate Law, one needs to have strong interpersonal and negotiation skills, the ability to think outside the box, analytical and collaborative skills and meticulous attention to detail, in addition to first-rate people management skills.

Some of the other skills required are listed below:

Business knowledge: One of the most important skills for a corporate lawyer is having commercial awareness. They must understand the need to honour deadlines, handle confidential information, and have financial prudence. Knowledge about company laws is essential to prevent fraud and financial bungling.

Research skills: Building a cohesive and cogent legal draft by researching plays a crucial role as more details regarding a case gives a definitive edge to the businesses. Referring to various information to map out meaningful and important resources requires investigative skills to be clear in speech and on paper for legal draft. It is the duty of the lawyer to handle the arguments well and safeguard the reputation of the corporate client.

Problem-solving and critical-thinking skills: In representing a client, the way a corporate lawyer presents his case is of utmost importance. He/she needs to have highly-developed cognitive abilities for information retention and retrieval, analysis and interpretation.

Entrance exams for the course:

Law admissions at a majority of colleges and universities across the country are done on the basis of entrance exams. For admission in UG level law courses, candidates are evaluated on the basis of their aptitude/knowledge on subjects such as legal aptitude, general knowledge, English, Mathematics (Numerical Ability) and logical reasoning.

Role of a corporate lawyer

For those lawyers equipped with reading and reasoning skills, corporate law can be an ideal career choice. Their job profile involves the intuitive understanding of the problems the company might run into, and, if required, flexing legal muscles, and adopting damage control measures.

A corporate lawyer is always quick on the uptake by supervising all legal and external affairs matters at regular intervals including litigation, investigations, compliance, mergers and acquisitions, contract matters and international trade issues.

Corporate lawyers have their job cut out like safeguarding the legality of commercial transactions, sensitising corporate employees of their legal rights and duties and representing companies.

Job openings for a corporate lawyer:

Because of their high competence level, corporate lawyers get the opportunity to work for the government or various business verticals, like marketing, retail, travel, hospitality, insurance, or technology industries.

Corporate lawyers can also work as in-house counsels for corporations or as associates or partners with law firms.

Then there are large or mid-size law firms that have corporate law departments which utilise the services of corporate lawyers. Many corporate lawyers have specialisations in areas like Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), venture capital, or securities. These are considered their professional strengths.  

The demand for corporate lawyers will see a surge in the near future owing to various new areas of expertise that have emerged in recent years. UPES offers BBA LL.B., a five-year integrated program with specialisation in Corporate Law.