how hard is it to find a job as a corporate lawyer

Full Answer

What is it like to be a corporate lawyer?

This process is lengthy and typically corporate lawyers work extremely long hours. As a deal moves towards its closing, it becomes an exercise in stamina as much as skillful negotiation. As one person observed, “The most important trait a lawyer can have is a leather-ass.

Is being a lawyer a good career choice?

Sally A. Kane wrote about legal careers for The Balance Careers, and is an attorney, editor, and writer with 20 years of experience in legal services. A career as a lawyer is one of the most sought-after professions and there are indeed many rewards if you pursue one.

Why do lawyers have to work so long?

Rising workloads and shrinking staffs are translating into more work hours for lawyers than ever before. The demands of global law practice also mean that some lawyers must be available to clients around the clock. Today’s lawyers work longer and harder and 50-plus hour work weeks are not at all uncommon.

What do corporate law departments look for in legal professionals?

Most corporate law departments are looking for legal professionals with specific skills. They need specialists to help them support higher demand for business-related legal services, including commercial litigation, contract management and patent filing.

Is it difficult to find a job as a lawyer?

It's easy to find a job as a lawyer, right? Not necessarily. Though the BLS predicts that growth in employment for lawyers will continue at six percent through 2024, that growth may not be enough to provide jobs for all the graduating law school students.

Will corporate lawyers be in demand in the future?

Employment of lawyers is projected to grow 9 percent from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations. About 46,000 openings for lawyers are projected each year, on average, over the decade.

Why is it so hard to get a job as a lawyer?

Deadlines, billing pressures, client demands, long hours, changing laws, and other demands all combine to make the practice of law one of the most stressful jobs out there. Throw in rising business pressures, evolving legal technologies, and climbing law school debt and it's no wonder lawyers are stressed.

What percentage of lawyers are corporate?

Attorneys in Corporations Work Across All Levels Corporate in-house attorneys make up approximately 11 percent of all attorneys in California. These attorneys are directly employed by the businesses and organizations they represent.

Is the legal profession dying?

Every now and then, or more often, we hear news about how the legal profession is dying. Whether it's robot lawyers, the apocalypse, or the robot lawyer apocalypse, you don't have to worry about the legal profession dying. The profession isn't going anywhere.

Which type of lawyers are most in demand?

Among the types of lawyers, Corporate Law experts are in great demand due to their specialization in contract law, securities law, bankruptcy, tax law, accounting, intellectual property rights, licensing, zoning laws, etc.

Is the law field oversaturated?

Law has a hugely oversaturated job market. If you can get into one of the T14 (Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, Columbia, NYU, Northwestern, Berkeley, etc) or the next top ~3 - 5 (Georgetown, UCLA, etc) and graduate in the top half of your class or better then go for it.

Is a career in law worth it?

The highest 10% of lawyers earned median annual earnings of more than $208,000 in 2019. Some law school graduates forgo serving as a lawyer in order to have more work-life balance. There are many jobs you can do with a law degree and legal-related roles where having a J.D. may be an asset.

Is being a lawyer still worth it?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of lawyers is expected to grow 4% from 2019 to 2029, on pace with the growth for all occupations. 4 Every year, there are more students that graduated law school than there are jobs available.

How old are most corporate lawyers?

40+ years oldCorporate Attorney Age Breakdown Interestingly enough, the average age of Corporate Attorneys is 40+ years old, which represents 65% of the population.

Are most lawyers White?

In 2020, 86% of all lawyers were non-Hispanic whites, a decline from 89% a decade ago. By comparison, 60% of all U.S. residents were non-Hispanic whites in 2019. Nearly all people of color are underrepresented in the legal profession compared with their presence in the U.S. population.

How many hours do lawyers work a day?

While there are (admittedly rare) exceptions, most lawyers work a minimum of 10-12 hours a day, with many working until the wee hours of the morning in the weeks before an important deadline.

Is there a high demand for lawyers?

There is a high demand for certain types of lawyers. Certain fields of law are booming. But it's no longer true that someone could coast through any old law school and generally be assured of landing a job that gave a sensible return on investment.

Is it wise to become a general lawyer?

Becoming a general lawyer is probably not a very wise move if you are looking for a career. Most of that information can be found online and there’s seldom enough customers anymore. You have to specialize nowadays to get a decent career as a lawyer. Personally, I’m more of a generalist vs a specialist type of guy.

Do lawyers argue in court?

Many lawyers never get the opportunity to argue in a courtroom. Contrary to the popular belief, speaking is not the main part of a lawyer's job. Reading and writing constitute at least 80% of the job. In the first few years, most lawyers will be a researcher, going through millions of case laws, treaties, and statutes.

Is it easy to get into law school?

It is very easy if you graduate from a top law school or even a highly-rated regional law school. Large law firms, the federal and state government are eager to hire such graduates. There are many crucial state agencies that need good lawyers. Top law grads tend to go to large law firms or top federal clerkships.

Do lawyers have a job before law school?

Most of the time, they successfully make an impression that they are the most miserable workers in the world. A large portion of lawyers have never held a real job before they graduate from law school. They go straight through from kindergarten all the way to law school. They have no idea what the real world is like.

How much does a corporate lawyer make?

A corporate lawyer starting salary is approximately $58,220, though there are instances of it being both lower and higher. At the top end, the salaries of these legal professionals can go as high as $208,000. The reason for such a range of remunerations is due to differences in geographical location, type of employer, and, most importantly, work experience. The top of the salary spectrum sees mostly chief legal officers, and the low end is where recent law graduates start their career. The average salary of a corporate lawyer hovers around $178,090 as a result.

What is corporate lawyer?

Corporate lawyer jobs are typically some of the most lucrative legal professions, out of which you can build a career after years of experience and detailed knowledge of the law. Corporate attorneys usually advise businesses on their legal obligations, responsibilities, and rights. You’ve probably heard of such occurrences as assisting a small internet start-up company and even participating in the negotiations to acquire a multibillion-dollar company. These examples involve corporate attorney jobs in their basic form.

What is a corporate lawyer?

A corporate lawyer is an attorney who represents the company they work for. It's common for a larger business, and small companies too, to hire corporate attorneys to make sure it's in compliance for its industry and following all rules and regulations.

Corporate lawyer salary

The national average salary for a corporate lawyer in the United States is $130,857 per year, although your years of experience, education, skill set and geographical location can affect your salary.

Skills for a corporate lawyer

Here are some skills that corporate attorneys possess that help them find success in their career:

Jobs for a corporate lawyer

If working in the law field is something you're passionate about, there are many jobs to consider. Here are 10 jobs similar to a corporate lawyer:

What do corporate lawyers need to do?

To structure a business transaction legally, a corporate lawyer may need to research aspects of contract law, tax law, accounting, securities law, bankruptcy, intellectual property rights, licensing, zoning laws, and other regulations relating to a specific area of business. The lawyer must ensure that a transaction does not conflict with local, ...

Why did one corporate lawyer like this side of the law?

One corporate lawyer remarked that she liked this side of the law precisely because the transactions take place among peers: There is no wronged party, no underdog, and usually no inequity in the financial means of the participants.

How does a new associate work?

New associates spend their days reviewing documents and doing legal research. They gather information on statutes that affect their clients’ transaction to insure that it can be done legally and keep track of the paperwork needed for the closing. The work is hard. Expect to put in long hours and work weekends.

What is the most important trait a lawyer can have?

As one person observed, “The most important trait a lawyer can have is a leather-ass. You’ve got to be able to put your butt in a chair and do the work.”. The upside to this profession is the compensation is good and you usually work with smart people.

How competitive is law school?

Law school admission is extremely competitive-the top twenty-five schools have an admission rate of about 10%. You can get tracked early: The kind of school you attend affects what kind of summer job opportunities you may have, which in turn affects the kind of permanent job you secure.

Is corporate law cushy?

The practice of corporate law is less cushy now; the days of the endless expense account are gone. The state of the economy always shapes the nature of corporate law; changes in the interest rates, the tax code, and other regulations affect the kind of transactions being done and how they are structured.

Who was the first lawyer to become a professor?

Thomas Jefferson introduced the first academic law program to the United States when he created a professorship in law at William and Mary in 1779. George Wythe , a Virginia judge at the time and, later, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was the first to fill the post.

Why is it important to have a corporate law attorney?

Across the legal profession, advanced technical skills are needed. Data privacy and data security are top concerns for corporate legal departments. This is because most businesses rely heavily on technology not only for everyday operations but also to build their brands, interact with customers, innovate and more. It is therefore essential for corporate law attorneys to understand the many ways technology supports the business, and the potential risks that devices, systems, applications and new ways of working, such as cloud computing, may pose.

Why do lawyers choose corporate law?

Some legal professionals choose the corporate law path specifically because they want to improve their work-life balance, which can be hard to do in a traditional law firm environment.

Why are corporate legal departments growing?

Many corporate legal departments are growing their teams because they need to watch the bottom line in a post-recession environment where businesses remain highly cost-conscious.

Is a corporate lawyer a 9 to 5 job?

So, although a corporate law career may provide more flexibility to manage both business and personal obligations compared to a law firm position, it is unlikely to be a 9-to-5 job.

Why do lawyers feel dissatisfied?

The stress and demands of practicing law have fueled high levels of career dissatisfaction among members of the bar. Depression and suicide are common among lawyers and 44 percent of those recently surveyed by the American Bar Association said they would not recommend the profession to a young person.

Is outsourcing legal work a trend?

It’s not a trend — the outsourcing of legal work to foreign countries is an economic reality. As more legal work is sent to low-wage workforces overseas or to regional delivery centers onshore, many traditional lawyer jobs are being eroded or displaced altogether.

Do lawyers work longer?

Today’s lawyer s work longer and harder and 50-plus hour work weeks are not at all uncommon. A competitive environment has forced lawyers to spend more time on client development and business management activities in addition to billing hours. Many lawyers complain of a lack of work-life balance as a result.

How long does it take to become an attorney?

All lawyers must complete a bachelor's degree before going on to law school. At a minimum, lawyers must get seven years of additional schooling after high school to become a lawyer. After law school graduation, presumptive attorneys must take and pass the bar exam, which is a grueling, multi-day test proving they have the necessary knowledge to work as a lawyer.

How many hours do lawyers work?

Demanding work hours. Many lawyers, particularly those in corporate law, work more than the standard 40 hours a week. Most attorneys use the "billable hours" style of tracking work time, meaning they bill clients for the work they do specifically on their cases. Often, this alone takes up 40 hours a week, leaving daily responsibilities like ...

Is a lawyer stressful?

The job itself is often high stress, depending on the type of law you practice. While contract lawyers or tax attorneys may occasionally have a few stressful days here and there, prosecutors and defenders, the lawyers who argue cases in court, often feel tremendous stress. These lawyers play an enormous role in their client's future, and the stress of that responsibility can be overwhelming.

Do defense attorneys have to protect guilty clients?

Guilty clients. Occasionally, particularly for defense attorneys, you'll have to protect guilty people. Even if you're not working as a trial attorney, you might have clients with whom you fundamentally disagree, but are duty-bound to represent.

Is law a technology?

The field of law is not immune to the ever-changing world of technology. Some lawyers find it's necessary to have a relatively solid understanding of how their client's online data and activity are tracked and stored for trial. This sort of technology changes all the time, so staying aware of the latest information can be a challenge.

Is it hard to be a lawyer?

Working as a lawyer, just like any profession, has its advantages and disadvantages. Some of the challenges that accompany a career in law can be hard to overcome for everyone. Consider all angles, both positive and negative, before deciding if the law profession is right for you.

Is law school expensive?

Law school is prohibitively expensive. Paired with possible debt from earning a bachelor's degree, most law students graduate with an extensive amount of student loan debt. Looking for a job with the stress of student loan debt can cause lawyers to take positions they might not otherwise consider because they know they have to pay off their exorbitant loans.