Corporate lawyers help companies deal with a wide range of issues that arise in their day-to-day activities. Lawyers use their unique experience in the implementation of international projects with the involvement of specialists working in various jurisdictions.
This article is about the most in-demand careers. Here we tell you what is in a lawyer’s job and why law is math for humanitarians.
Who are lawyers and why do corporations need them?
Since the dawn of society, conflicts have happened between people. It used to be that people turned to tradition and local authorities such as elders or chiefs to resolve disputes. But over time this became more difficult: society grew larger and there were more areas for conflict. Then they decided to fix the rules that applied to the whole population in writing. Thus, for example, Hammurabi’s code of laws appeared and the law was born.
Lawyers are responsible for drafting, clarifying, and enforcing rights. In any field – consulting, art, sales – you need people who know the law. In corporations, they keep documentation up to date, regulate sales of stock and shares and transactions with other entities or individuals.
It is impossible to foresee the consequences that may arise after drawing up a contract in particular or entering into any legal relationship in general without a lawyer. He will clarify all the details, fix them in writing and make sure that both parties to the agreement understand what they want. In addition, almost any transaction is an interaction with the state, which makes sure that no one’s rights are violated. This, too, must be kept in mind.
Skills Required by a Corporate Lawyer
To become a true expert, you need to have the following soft skills:
• Negotiation skills. It is important to position your point of view correctly in communication with your team and clients. Competent communication will help to understand the parties and avoid mistakes in the design of the relationship.
• Time management. Lawyers, especially early in their careers, have to work hard. There is not enough time even for current tasks, and many seek additional help for their issues. You need to analyze the amount of work, properly distribute the load and do not forget to recover.
• Delegating tasks. This applies more to professionals in higher positions. Try to distribute tasks so that everyone does what they do best. In some progressive companies, the head of the team is even sometimes sent on a forced week-long vacation to see how employees will do without him.
Hard skills are also important:
• Confident knowledge of the law and practice. Of course, there are special databases and systems that help you find the right laws. But to work with them, you need to formulate requests correctly. And here you cannot do without knowledge and understanding of the law.
• Knowledge and trend watching. You need to always be aware of changes: learn about new laws and check the relevance of old ones. There are special resources for this, which specialize in news in the field of law.
• Mastery of the English language. A lawyer must be able to express himself orally and in written form clearly, concisely and competently. One must be able to translate legal terms clearly in order to explain to colleagues what certain things and situations mean.
You have to understand that lawyers have their own professional deformation. When you work in consulting and there are only lawyers around you, you communicate only in terms and use slang. With other people, you can flaunt cases and talk about articles as much as you want, but they won’t understand and won’t be interested. Learn to translate your speech from professional to English.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Job
Pros:
• Constant training of the intellect. It’s like math, but for humanitarians. You build logic chains that you have to make work: you have a desired result, inputs, and a law. You need to put them together so that the solution covers all aspects of the new legal relationship.
• Opportunity to try. There is no area in which you don’t need a lawyer. If you want to try your hand at business, the music industry, or IT, you can do it.
• Fast growth. You can get very high up the career ladder in a few years. The tasks and salary at each grade are very different, so the development feels even stronger.
• Stability. Many people fear they will be replaced by robots in the future. Law is not in the category of such professions, because most of a lawyer’s tasks cannot be automated. They are unique – you can’t write a single script to them.
In ten years, there will probably be little change in the profession, but there will definitely be more jobs. Society is evolving, and new areas are emerging that need to be regulated. For example, artificial intelligence or cryptocurrency.
Cons:
• Overwork. This is one of those areas where working overtime is the norm. Tasks often come with very tight deadlines, and they cannot be put off, so you have to sacrifice your free evenings.
• Dress code. It is a joke, of course, that you should always wear a suit, but there is some truth in it, as usual. Lawyers are often greeted by their clothes, and their professionalism is judged by their appearance.
Do you want to have no disadvantages of the profession? Then at the initial stage, the best option is to go into consulting. You will have to grit your teeth and work hard. Not all young professionals can stand it, but this experience gives you an interesting insight and a good understanding of the law.
Career Prospects
All lawyers have a clear division into grades. They start as an assistant – in consulting it is called a paralegal. You will have a lot of basic tasks and technical work, but you will also have to do complicated research on non-obvious legal points. In 2-3 years, you can grow to a paralegal – you will be trusted to lead small projects in their entirety, rather than solving individual tasks.
Another year or two, and you become a full-fledged lawyer. This grade differs from the previous one in terms of increased area of responsibility, more serious projects, and managerial tasks. You will have a team of paralegals or junior lawyers, and you will start making serious, meaningful decisions. Next, if you are building a career in consulting, you move to a senior associate position, and then a partner position. In other corporations, a similar position is head of the legal department.
What to Study
• Study the area of interest to you in the basic legislation. Do not forget about the comments, decisions, and explanations of the highest judicial bodies;
• If you work with law, re-read university manuals to remember how and why it worked. A practicing lawyer will find it even more interesting than a student;
• Study career rules: how to pump the softs to keep the respect and favor of the team while quickly climbing the career ladder;
• Study the principles of any corporate structure. You will gain unexpected insights that you can apply to your career.
If you would like to support Open Sourced Workplace:
Author’s Bio:
Jean Hartley is a professional content writer who has helped students for over 6 years. She successfully works for a write my paper
service and also manages remote projects. Jean has her own blog on YouTube where she shares her knowledge.
