Hartley Bernstein has been a corporate lawyer in New York for more than 35 years. In this post, he sheds light on one of the most highly paid professions in the United States. In the following paragraphs, Bernstein provides an overview of what a corporate lawyer is and what his or her job involve.
What does a corporate lawyer do?
A corporate lawyer ensures commercial
transactions taking place under his or her watch are legal. To be certain of
the legality, a corporate lawyer has to have a profound knowledge of
regulations passed by the governments, statutory law, and the goals of his or
her clients.
Corporate lawyers spend endless hours
researching the tax law, contract law, securities law, intellectual property
rights, accounting, zoning laws, licensing, bankruptcy law, and other
regulations to ensure legality of business transactions of their clients.
It is the job of a corporate lawyer to ensure
that a business deal does not put his or her clients in conflict local, state,
or federal law.
How similar or dissimilar corporate law
practice is to other law fields?
The job of a corporate lawyer is different
from that other lawyers. In trial law, the nature of relationship between
lawyers of clients is adversarial. In contract, corporate law is team-oriented.
Corporate lawyers of a company work with the
lawyers of other company to seek a common ground for their respective clients.
Therefore, corporate lawyers are not competitors, in the strict sense of the
word.
One lawyer has defined the nature of the job
very beautifully. He has said that corporate lawyers are handmaidens of
business deals.
What makes a successful corporate lawyer?
It takes a combination of expertise,
flexibility, and service mentality to succeed in corporate law. A lawyer has to
know his or her field very well, he or she has to understand a client’s needs,
and there has to be a flexibility in working to accommodate demanding clients
or extra-tough cases.
An incisive mind and excellent language skills
- written and oral - are two essential qualities of successful lawyers.
Successful corporate lawyers are master
negotiators. They constantly write and rewrite legal documents to create a set
of terms that satisfies both parties.
Is the profession for me?
Read the above paragraphs and do a little
self-evaluation for an answer.
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