07,Feb 2024
The corporate Sector being the major backbone of the Indian Economy by contributing approximately 53% to the total GDP has seen major development in the last few years. And with this growth, the demand for corporate lawyers has also grown. The responsibilities of the corporate lawyer include business governance, contract making and regulation, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, business transactions, international trade issues, etc.
If the roles and responsibilities of a corporate lawyer excite you, then you should dive into it and opt it your career. To help you out with the question, ;How to become a corporate lawyer?” here in this blog we have mentioned complete details on what a corporate lawyer is, eligibility criteria, what they do, the skills and qualifications required, and much more.
Detailed Steps to Become Corporate Lawyers:
1. Pass your class Xth and XIIth:
The first and foremost step to be completed by the students is to pass Xth and XIIth. Candidates willing to make their career as a lawyer should opt for humanities in class XIIth as it helps them to get awareness about what law is and other allied subjects. However, candidates with science and commerce subjects can also opt to pursue law.
2. Appear for the law entrance exam:
After completion of schooling, candidates need to clear the national, state, or university level law entrance examinations such asCLAT, AILET, SLAT, etc. To appear in these exams, candidates need to score at least 50% marks in XII or its equivalent from a recognized board. Through the scores of these examinations, candidates will get admission into the top law colleges in India. Irrespective of the stream chosen by the candidates in class XII, they can score well in the entrance exam through a good strategy. The entrance exam will consist of basic questions from topics such aslogical reasoning, current affairs, general knowledge, and English.
3. Search for law colleges:
After appearing in the examinations, candidates should research the best law colleges. Based on the reviews by the alumnus, faculty, infrastructure, placement records, etc. you can make your choice. While looking for colleges for pursuing graduation, candidates should also look at whether a post-graduation degree is offered by the institute or not in case they wish to go for further studies and get a master’s degree. Your research for the college should be based on your thoughts, whether you wish to go for the integrated course or just the graduation course. Integrated courses include B.Com LLB, B.Sc LLB, and BA LLB, among others.
4. Get your Bachelor’s degree:
The first step in making your career as a corporate lawyer is getting an LLB or bachelor’s degree. Candidates are required to pursue a 3-year or 5-year law program. During the graduation years, only candidates should decide which specialization they wish to opt for. For example, you can opt for corporate law, criminal law, taxation law, etc.
5. Gain relevant skills:
We know there is tough competition these days in the law field therefore gaining practical knowledge and relevant skills is quite important. Some of the most important skills required by the candidates are
- Negotiation skills- It is very well said, that a good lawyer needs to be a good negotiator too. Following this, candidates should learn how to negotiate that too turning it in their favor.
- Contract Drafting – In your organization, you will be required to draft the contracts as per the demand. Hence it becomes quite important that you know this skill.As you will be required to put up new deals on paper, renewold deals, buildrelationships, etc
- Intellectual Property Rights -These days companies have a large number of intellectual property assetsas the market is more innovation-driven, hence candidates should learn the basics of Intellectual property rights.
6. Get Internships:
During your graduation years only you should look for relevant internships. Getting internships will help you gain experience and will be a plus point for your resume as well. For example, aspiring corporate lawyers should look for firms availing of internships in concerned fields.
7. Register with the Bar Council:
After completion of your degree, candidates need to register themselves provisionally with the bar council of any state by submitting all their documents and paying the required fees. Following this, the candidates are required to appear for the Bar exam to get their permanent practice license. Failing to do so will lead to their deprivation from practicing in the courts.
8. Take the Bar Exam:
To practice, all the candidates are required to pass the All India Exam conducted every year by the BCI to issue a permanent certificate of practice. After registering yourself with the Bar Council of any state candidates need to pass theAll India Bar Examinationto get them permanently registered with the Bar Council of India within 2 years itself.
9. Pursue Master’s Degree:
After completing graduation, candidates can also opt for a master’s degree to have an upper hand. For getting a master’s degree, candidates are required to appear for CLAT, AILET, or other related examinations to get admission to law colleges.
Skills Required by Corporate Lawyer:
If you think a degree will be enough to get you the title of lawyer, then you might be wrong here. A degree is not enough and you also need to acquire some specific skills to become one. Here we have mentioned both; soft skills as well as hard skills that you are required by the candidates.
Soft skills required are:
- Power of Negotiation
- Organizational Behavior
- Critical Thinkingand Problem Solving
- Art of making Judgment
- Perseverance
Apart from the skills mentioned above some other skills are also required. Such as:
- Awareness of the Business,
- Legal Ethics,
- Knowledge of important laws like Intellectual Property, Contract law, and Competition law,
- Research Ability,
- Knowledge of Notary,
- High Ethical Standards.
Roles and Responsibilities of Corporate Lawyer:
- They are responsible for preparing all the legal documents for court proceedings to represent their client.
- Corporate lawyers take on client pitches, comprehend their situation, and hence act in the best interest of their clients.
- Theynegotiate deals between two or more companies and prepare all the paperwork.
- They are required to guide the company regarding the legal and regulatory compositions to ensure that the company does not land into any complications or controversies.
- These people negotiate the contracts and agreements between the companies.
- These lawyers list the companies on the stock markets.
- They assist the companies in selling or buying shares and assets.
- Apart from this, they also handle the employment law issues of a company.
Types:
Most of you must be thinking is a single lawyer doing all the stuff mentioned above? Well, this is not true; there are different types of corporate lawyers based on their preference and inclination for the specialization. For your reference, we have mentioned them below
- Contract Lawyer: They draft the legal agreements between two or more companies, which will be enforced.
- Lawyer for Merger and Acquisitions: These people help the company to purchase or merge with another company to become one. Apart from this, they also help a company to buy or invest the shares, arrange such schemes for merging or de-merge of companies that will turn fruitful for the organization, restructure the capital flow of the company, etc.
- Lawyers in Venture Capital: Venture capital corporate lawyers are the practitioners who guide an investor or any other financial service provider in the world of industries. These lawyers look into the process of structuring funds and draft such documents that help in raising funds for the company.
- Legal Journalist:A lawyer who collects information related to the law and reports it to the general public is called a legal journalist.
Scope for Corporate Lawyer:
These days the demand for business lawyers is rapidly increasing. This demand is high because almost all companies need them for legal advice and guidance on various issues involving legal aspects. With growing firms, the demand for legal experts, i.e. concerned lawyers is also increasing.
We know the practice of merger between two or more companies and buying and selling of shares and even the companies is a common practice. This requires the vigilance of a lawyer who can look into the legalities of the matter and thoroughly researchthe company’s benefits and losses for the same. These lawyers guide the company about the benefits of buying another company or merging with another company. It is the responsibility of the lawyer only to ensure that the company does not make a deal that would bring them a loss. They look into the legalities of the merger of companies and prepare all the necessary paperwork.
Exams to Appear For Becoming a Corporate Lawyer:
Candidates who wish to become lawyers are required to appear for some specific law entrance examinations. All these entrance examinations will have multiple-choice questions. The candidates will be evaluated on the basis of English language and comprehension tests, general knowledge, current affairs, logical reasoning, and mathematical techniques. Here we have mentioned a few examinations that you can take:
- Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)
- Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test for Law
- Andhra Pradesh State Law Common Entrance Test
- Telangana Law Common Entrance Test
- DU LL.B Entrance Exam
- Law School Admission Test India
- Allahabad University LAT Exam
- BHU Undergraduate Entrance Test
- Punjab University LL.B Entrance Test.
References:
- https://in.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/how-to-become-a-corporate-lawyer
- https://www.upgrad.com/blog/how-to-become-a-corporate-lawyer/
- https://collegedunia.com/courses/bachelor-of-laws-llb/how-to-become-a-corporate-lawyer
- https://www.careers360.com/careers/corporate-lawyer