How to become a Corporate Lawyer | Business lawyer CompleteGuide

 

This article will provide you detailed information about, how to become a corporate lawyer in India step by step. So that you don’t have any confusion left to start following this career path.

You are going to know about these following things in this article…

What is a corporate lawyer?


The corporate lawyer also referred to as a business lawyer. These law graduates are the masters in business and corporate laws and help to raise companies & industries in a legitimate manner. Therefore they play an important role for a business to grow and lead towards in achieving success.

So we can say that for any type of emerging business a corporate lawyer provides a base foundation before any transaction takes place, i.e. a lawyer specialized in business-related laws helps to form industries.   

As being a lawyer you have to make a habit of reading and writing because during your job hours you have to read a lot and as well as write the legal documents. 

Corporate law is one of the glamorous and exciting career option available today. 

 

Is corporate lawyer different from advocates or any other lawyers?


Yes, a corporate lawyer is not the same as an advocate or any other types of lawyer.  There are many other types of law career available today, which you can choose after completing graduation in law.

Related: Lawyer career path: A complete roadmap

The common thing about all types of lawyers is, they all come under the umbrella term Law. That is all lawyers have to studied law before going to a specific law career.

Corporate lawyer: As its name suggests it deals with the industries and business law.

Advocate: Advocate is the person who specializes in litigations at court. This is the conventional career option which you had seen in the movies and TV shows. They generally referred as a prosecutor or criminal lawyer or sometimes just a lawyer.

Related: How to become an Advocate

As the lawyers can choose multiple other law career options to get specialized in a particular field. And each and every field of law is different from others available law careers to some extent.

Therefore a lawyer could possess distinct skills than other lawyers. Like; a prosecutor (Advocate) are skilled in arguing at the court.      

Most people have a very common misconception that being a lawyer means you have to go the courtroom every day to deal with crime. But that is not completely true nowadays, you have many career option in law.

Being a corporate lawyer you really don’t have to go to the courtroom and even in your whole corporate career, you would not go to the courtroom for a single day.  

 

Corporate Lawyer Education requirements


Education 1 (Mandate): High School

You must have been passed your intermediate high school (12th standard) in any of the site (Art/Commerce/ Science) to become a corporate lawyer.

However, most of the students choose commerce in their senior secondary high school. And it really gives you benefit in order to get the job in the corporate sector. As well as makes easy to get understand the business terminology in your corporate law studies.

Education 2 (Mandate): LLB (Bachelor of Legislative Law) | 5 years Duration

There are many integrated LLB programs are available today to become a lawyer. But if you want to go in the corporate sector of law, you should go for the B.Com LLB and BBA LLB integrated program. It’s a five years integrated program available in many top-ranked law colleges and universities.

Education 3 (Optional): LLM (Masters of Laws)

In order to start the journey as a corporate lawyer, you generally do not require master’s degree to get a job. You can do it later after getting some experience like other corporate lawyers do.

There are other ways to become a lawyer: Click here to know an alternative way

 

What is Post Graduate Diploma in Corporate Law (PGDCL) all about?


This is an alternative way to get a job in corporate law sector. But it not as much feasible as compared to the 5 years B.Com-LLB and BBA-LLB program.

Because during five years of academics you will learn about various types of business law, and in those five years you already knew all the time what you are going to do next. So you can focus more on the subjects (Corporate and Business law), which you will have to deal in your whole career.

Post Graduate Diploma in Corporate Law Eligibility Criteria

A candidate must have bachelor’s degree in any discipline. So to apply for this program there are no such eligibility criteria that say you only have bachelor’s degree in law. Anyone is eligible to get apply and take admission in the postgraduate diploma program.

Suggestion:  If you want to be part of corporate life as a lawyer, I would suggest you must possess these following bachelor’s degree…

  • LLB (3 years)
  • BA LLB (5 years)
  • Bachelor of Science in Law (BSL)
  • B.Com
  • Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
  • Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS)
  • Bachelor of Business Management (BBM)
  • Or any related field of business and marketing

This is the best option for those students, who just got a degree in the above mention field (not B.Com & BBA integrated program). 

The duration of Post Graduate Diploma in Corporate Law programs is usually 1 year.

Which are the colleges have Diploma program in Corporate Law?

These are the following top colleges, where you can apply for the diploma course

Admission for diploma courses based on the merit (percentage) you got in the bachelor’s degree and first come, first served basis.

Related Career: How to become a court judge

 

What will you learn in Corporate Law?


  • Business and taxation law
  • Corporate Accounting
  • Corporate Governance
  • Business Organization & Management
  • Managerial Economics and Accounting
  • Income Tax: Theory, Practice and Management
  • Financial Management
  • Financial Institutions & Markets
  • Law of Taxation
  • Labour Laws
  • Insurance Law
  • Intellectual Property Rights

What are the Skills set a Corporate Lawyer must have?


  • Writing
  • Analytics
  • Able to work under pressure
  • Client Handling
  • Communication and Interpersonal Skills

How to become a Corporate Lawyer [Step-by-Step] Procedure


[Step 1] High School (10+2)

You must have been passed your 12th board exam from any of the stream (Arts/Commerce/Science) to jump on the next step.

[Step 2] Take the law schools entrance examination

There are various entrance exams conducted all over India to take admission in India’s topmost and finest law colleges. So if you want to get admission in good law school then you have to prepare for the law entrance examination.  

CLAT and AILET are the most popular entrance exam among the law aspirants.

[Step 3] Bachelor of Laws (LLB)

Complete your graduation in Law and become a lawyer to move further into next step

[Step 4] PGDCL

This step is optional (not necessary) step for those candidates who had completed their law degree in any of the law undergraduate program B.Com +LLB or BBA +LLB.

That means if you don’t have any background of Law and you are a commerce graduate, but you want to study about corporate law and want to make a career in same then Post Graduate Diploma in Corporate Law (PGDCL) is mandatory for you.

[Step 5] Interview

Now you are officially a corporate lawyer because you complete your education in corporate law. And it’s time for attending and cracking interview. You can apply for the jobs in House counsel (public sector) as well as in law firms and Legal process outsourcing (LPO).

Related: Tricks to get calls from online job portals (like Naukri, indeed, monster etc.)   

 

What do Corporate Lawyers do? [Job Description]


  • Communicate with clients over to the phone and if required meet him personally.

 

  • Understand the client motive and demand and find the best possible solution to the clients adhering all the legal laws.  

 

  • Examine the deal’s agreement in order to minimize and stop the risk of the business.

 

  • Reviews, drafts and negotiates all kind of agreements, like Service Agreements, non-disclosure agreements, Lease and License Agreement, Consultancy Agreement, Supply and Purchase Agreement, Distribution Agreement, Maintenance Agreement, Sourcing Agreement, Indemnity Bond, Power of Attorney, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and review of customer proposed terms and conditions located in India as well as abroad (international).

 

  • Advice the client to grow their businesses by understanding the current situation.

 

  • Analyse and understand the company current and upcoming business deals and advice it legally.

 

  • Coordinate with government official authorities and keep yourself up to date for drafting and vetting the legal agreements.

 

  • Prepare the legal documents such as tax exemption, permits, trademark, registration, copyright, etc. according to company policies by following government laws and regulations.

 

  • As being a lawyer you have to advise and provide a feasible solution on various legal issues such as corporate structure issues, employment law, corporate governance, drafting legal opinions, mergers and acquisitions, memoranda and other briefing documents.

 

Corporate Lawyer Career Scope


India economy is one of the largest economies in the world thus in India lots of businesses are running. So to run the business properly without breaking any legal boundaries. They all need a person who is an expert on the corporate transaction and can able to gives legal advice to grow their businesses.

Lots of international companies are opening their offices in India. Nowadays businesses are not only operating within their own country, it also runs in many international locations. So to function these businesses in multiple locations you must have the knowledge and good understanding of the laws of the land of that prospective country. So based on these assumption you could say this career is in huge demand.

A legal professional who has the ability to solve legal complexity and various transition issues in between business to business (B2B) are really in demand.

1 thought on “How to become a Corporate Lawyer | Business lawyer CompleteGuide”

  1. you have written in so easy language on your blog I
    cleared all my queries .thank you so much .god bless you.

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