what is a corporate affairs lawyer

by Nicolette White DVM 10 min read

Corporate lawyers advise businesses (which can include different entities such as partnerships, publicly and privately held companies, and business start-ups, among others) on their numerous legal rights, responsibilities and obligations.

Full Answer

What is Corporate Affairs and why do you need it?

In some businesses, professionals sit in all the main business units, allowing them to respond in a quick and context-rich manner. Corporate Affairs teams have expanded in remit and can encompass pretty much anything and everything that may impact on a business’s brand and reputation.

What does a corporate lawyer do?

Many corporate lawyers have specialties or areas of corporate law that they focus on such as M&A, venture capital, or securities. Some corporate lawyers work in-house, and most large corporations have their own in-house legal departments. In-house corporate lawyers generally handle a wide variety of issues.

What is corporate law?

What is Corporate Law? Corporate law is the body of laws, rules, regulations and practices that govern the formation and operation of corporations. It’s the body of law that regulates legal entities that exist to conduct business.

What are the career backgrounds of Corporate Affairs Directors?

Source: Odgers Berndtson. The two most common career backgrounds for corporate affairs directors in the FTSE 100 are media relations and government/public affairs, with just six coming from journalism.

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What exactly does a corporate lawyer do?

Corporate lawyers structure transactions, draft documents, negotiate deals, attend meetings and make calls toward those ends. A corporate lawyer works to ensure that the provisions of an agreement are clear, unambiguous and won't cause problems for their client in the future.

Which kind of lawyer makes the most money?

Some of the highest-paid lawyers are:Medical Lawyers – Average $138,431. Medical lawyers make one of the highest median wages in the legal field. ... Intellectual Property Attorneys – Average $128,913. ... Trial Attorneys – Average $97,158. ... Tax Attorneys – Average $101,204. ... Corporate Lawyers – $116,361.

What is the highest position for a corporate lawyer?

Chief Legal Officer The top legal position in a large corporation usually earns a multimillion dollar executive salary and may earn millions more in stock awards or options. The chief legal officer, sometimes called the general counsel, has responsibility for ensuring that company actions are legal.

What do corporate lawyers do in a day?

A typical day involves being on the phone or in meetings with clients or colleagues working through deal-specific or governance-related issues, negotiating transaction documents with opposing counsel, or working on regulatory filings in connection with a transaction.

Are corporate lawyers rich?

Salary of Corporate Lawyers in India In India, the range of salary that the law firms offers ranges all the way from Rs 25-30 lakh per annum to Rs 150-200 lakh. Even for lawyers who have just graduated from college, there is a wide potential range from between Rs 5-10 lakh per year to Rs 18-20 lakh per year.

How long does it take to become a corporate lawyer?

To be eligible for becoming a corporate lawyer the aspiring candidate should be a graduate in any discipline for joining 3 years L.L.B Course or 10+2 for joining an integrated course of 5 years of B.A. L.L.B.

Is corporate lawyer good career?

Corporate law is a good career as it offers many options in nearly every industry and a strong salary. As a corporate lawyer, you can work for the government or various business verticals, like retail, marketing, travel, hospitality, insurance, or technology industries.

Are corporate lawyers in demand?

The demand for corporate lawyers will only increase in the near future and there is a great potential for corporate lawyers owing to various new areas of expertise that have emerged in recent years. The kind of transactions we see today are truly global in their nature.

What is the difference between corporate lawyer and criminal lawyer?

Corporate Law – Lawyers who take care of a business' legal boundaries. Criminal Law – Lawyers ensuring every citizen to abide by the laws. Energy Law – Lawyers to oversee the taxation of energy and approving licences to industries.

What skills do corporate lawyers need?

Corporate lawyers should have excellent writing, communication, and negotiating skills because these skills are relied upon so heavily in day-to-day corporate law work.

Where can a corporate lawyer work?

A lawyer can choose any area of practice in corporate law and excel at it. After pursuing a degree in corporate law a lawyer can work at an MNC, law firm, asset management company, banks, insurance companies etc.

What subjects do you need to be a corporate lawyer?

You'll take courses in topics such as:Legal procedures.Administrative law.Torts.Legal communications.Intellectual property.Civil and criminal law.Legal advocacy.Taxation.

Why become a corporate lawyer?

Corporate lawyers help companies conduct business. They help corporations do business better. Lawyers who like to read and write might enjoy corporate law. Lawyers in this area of practice have to understand and use a complex body of rules and regulations. For lawyers with great reading and reasoning skills, corporate law can be a challenging fit.

What is corporate law?

Corporate law is the body of laws, rules, regulations and practices that govern the formation and operation of corporations. It’s the body of law that regulates legal entities that exist to conduct business. The laws touch on the rights and obligations of all of the people involved with forming, owning, operating and managing a corporation.

Why do corporate laws exist?

It’s not meant to make it harder to get things done. The laws exist to make it easier for corporations to do business. Rules that govern forming a corporation and rules for how to take corporate actions are meant to help business and make things fair for everyone. They make sure that corporations act in predictable ways that others can rely on.

What are the characteristics of corporate law?

There are five principles that are common to corporate law: 1. Legal personality. Corporation owners pool their resources into a separate entity. That entity can use the assets and sell them. Creditors can’t easily take the assets back.

What do corporate leaders prefer?

Corporation leaders typically prefer to have one-stop shopping for their corporate needs. They also tend to prefer a long-term relationship with the attorneys they work with. Medium and large law firms allow large corporations to meet their needs conveniently through a long-term relationship with their law firm.

Why do people practice corporate law?

Practicing corporate law offers a challenging and sound career for attorneys who can tackle complex concepts and exercise sound judgment.

What happens when a corporation is sued?

When a corporation gets sued, it’s only the corporation’s assets that are on the line. The plaintiff can’t go after the personal assets of the corporation’s owners. A corporation’s limited liability allows owners to take risks and diversify their investments.

What is corporate lawyer?

Corporate lawyers are experts in commercial law. They are tasked with ensuring a company’s transactions comply with corporate laws and regulations. They may work at a law firm or as part of a company's legal team.

What is the job of a legal designer?

Design and oversee the company’s policy and position on legal matters.

What is corporate affairs?

Corporate Affairs in a company are responsible for all internal company and external relation with a central government and local government. In Corporate Affairs, there are 3 sub division such as Government Relations, Corporate Communication and also Branding.

What is corporate communication?

In a corporate communication, we have to deal with all internal and external communications of the company, in our company business, corporate communication must maintain and updates to the current political, economic situation that will affect to our business. Corporate Communications must keep updates with the political situation in Indonesia, because our company is not a local company, so we must aware to the situation. Also, corporate communications must monitor the media, what the media are said about the company and manage a good relationship with the media. In the corporate Affairs, we also responsible for managing Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility is a corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company effects, on environmental and surroundings social wellbeing, where the company operates their business. Corporate Social Responsibility is a must to keep a good relation with the social surroundings.

What is corporate social responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility is a corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company effects, on environmental and surroundings social wellbeing, where the company operates their business. Corporate Social Responsibility is a must to keep a good relation with the social surroundings.

What is government relations?

Government Relations manage all relationship with the government, also keep a good relationship with the government. Because my company is a multinational company originated from China, many people will assume that China company is not good enough when create a product, so in government relations we have to manage a good relationship with ...

What is the career of a corporate affairs director?

The two most common career backgrounds for corporate affairs directors in the FTSE 100 are media relations and government/public affairs, with just six coming from journalism. Those with shorter tenures in communications roles spent their earlier years in journalism, finance, economics, law, investor relations or strategic planning.

What is the role of reputation in corporate affairs?

Safeguarding reputation is a critical concern of the Board, and Corporate Affairs teams are responsible for handling a multitude of conversations in a meaningful, content-rich way.

Is corporate communications more relevant than financial services?

Nowhere is the transformation of Corporate Communications more relevant than the financial services sector, where businesses have had to defend and rebuild reputation while developing new skills, perspectives and relationships to engage with rigorous regulators.

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Roger Miles

Dominick, I agree. A couple of years ago it was my great privilege to be commissioned (by a big law firm) to interview the GCs AND Heads of Corporate Affairs of their 'Top 10' EMEA branded clients, asking in detail about how they perceived the connections between legal risk and issues management.

Dominick Moxon-Tritsch

Much as it pains me to disagree with Liz and Lyn, as recently as 2007, ÂŁ1 of every ÂŁ7 spent in the UK was spent in Tesco which had a v. high political risk profile. In this period its hugely effective PA work was led by the redoubtable Lucy Neville Rolfe, initially an in house lawyer but in time group head of Corporate Affairs.

Julian Cacchioli

I would suggest the GC element is a bit of a red herring here. As others have stated, whether the corporate affairs function reports to legal, HR or anyone else, it is about the relationship and trust between those involved.

Jonathan Smith

I think the honest answer is 'it depends'. If the GC has no experience of communications (which, let's be honest, is fairly likely) then, as long as they look to the experts for advice - and, just as importantly, act on that - then there are no issues.

Patrick Pearson

The best solution is a symbiotic relationship where each party knows its strengths, but corporate affairs wears the trousers. The GC provides very sound advice but it needs to remain just that. It is the GC’s job to consider legal risks and lay them on the table.

What is the role of corporate affairs officer?

Before the rise of social media and smartphones, the role of the corporate affairs officers relied much more heavily on traditional media and gave professionals a bit more control over a company’s reputation and overall presence in the public. Now, in an instant information can be shared globally. This means that the job of a corporate affairs leader is much more demanding and must be far more strategically handled than it had been in the past. Corporate affairs leaders understand that they are never off the clock, and that the job is a 24/7 responsibility.

What are the new competencies of corporate affairs?

Corporate affairs leaders need to understand every corner of their market; both within their own company and externally. According to Communications-Director “with such a dynamic business environment and the evolving influence of this role, it is no surprise that elite candidates possess more business acumen and better financial literacy. They also have a global perspective, are politically savvy, and are highly attuned to the nuances and impact of global legislative, regulatory and policy issues.”

How can corporate affairs communicators use each other's strengths?

Marketers and corporate affairs communicators can use each other’s strengths to create a more comprehensive plan of action for raising visibility, delivering call to action and promoting a brand to the public. In working hand in hand and keeping the overall objective in mind, marketers and corporate affairs professionals will be able to establish consistent messaging in their communications, as well as pinpoint a common goal to create credibility for their organization.

Is corporate affairs a 24/7 job?

This means that the job of a corporate affairs leader is much more demanding and must be far more strategically handled than it had been in the past. Corporate affairs leaders understand that they are never off the clock, and that the job is a 24/7 responsibility.

Do corporate affairs professionals work with marketing?

Now more than even corporate affairs professionals are working hand in hand with the marketing team. The best of the best will understand both angles and take the extra step to establish a strong relationship between the two.

What is a corporate affairs manager?

A corporate affairs manager or director is responsible for a company's internal and external communications, including public relations, government relations, public policy, corporate restructuring and determination of employee attitudes in a company, according to Management Today.

What is the job of an officer responsible for corporate affairs?

Officers responsible for corporate affairs handle communications with the public, such as press releases, introduction of new products, investor relations, handling crises and presentation of new officers.

Why do corporate affairs directors worry about future changes?

Corporate affairs directors concern themselves with future changes because they guide companies through industry trends that affect the interests of the firm. The corporate affairs manager directs changes a company needs to make to be in line with future growth. These changes can include merging departments, setting corporate goals, creating mission statements and getting all employees on board for future projects.

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