<p>So I was wondering what the best route would be for someone who wants to ultimately go into corporate law. Before you dismiss my intended concentration as misguided or ill-intentioned (as many others have) I am fully aware of the mind numbing, meticulous revision of contracts which I will be subject to for an extended period of time early in my law career. I have visited large corporate law offices, and I have seen the kind of awful lifestyle a new corporate lawyer has to live.</p>
<p>With that being said, I was considering going into a solid undergrad program for economics or business, although I feel business is too overdone, and it is rather hard to get into a good business school. I considered finance, but seeing as I'm not too big on theoretical mathematics, it might be a challenging major for me.</p>
<p>Would economics be a good way to go if I ultimately want to be involved in corporate law?</p>
<p>Thanks for your time</p>
<p>Yes, as a practicing corporate lawyer, I believe that a rigorous economics major would be a good foundation for a career as a corporate lawyer.</p>
<p>As a practicing “corporate” lawyer, I still don’t think undergraduate degree matters much. It’s not a bad choice, but it’s not necessarily going to make you a stand-out candidate either. It will depend on what type of corporate law you might be practicing. Corporate lawyers do everything from contracts, litigation management, licensing and other IP work, communications, HR, securities filings, etc. A degree in economics has no particular relevance to some of these practices. It might not be pertinent to contracts work, depending on the industry in which you work. If your goal is banking, it might be relevant. </p>
<p>I work with lawyers with undergrad degrees that are all over the map, from engineering, accounting, criminal justice, education, a foreign language, philosophy, etc. The only degrees that I’ve ever envied a little are the accounting and businesss degrees, since they would be useful for understanding some international tax and financial reporting issues in my company’s industry. </p>
<p>If you’re interested in economics, then by all means choose it as a major and do well in it. It could be very useful if you’re considering one of the dual degree JD/MBA programs in the future.</p>
<p>You will be fine as long as you have strong analytical skills. There’s no need to major in economics, let alone finance.</p>
<p>I think economics or finance is helpful if you want to be a corporate lawyer, but is by no means necessary.</p>
<p>My comment was not intended to imply that an economics major has any advantage in the law school admissions process. Having a background in economics or finance can absolutely be of assistance for a practicing corporate lawyer.</p>
<p>Yes, the background could be valuable. Won’t help you get into top law schools or really any law schools as a rule. It’s LSATs, LSATs, LSATs, and, oh, gpa.</p>
<p>Majoring in economics gives you little edge in being a corporate lawyer. Many corporate lawyers deal with issues of securities law, contract law, human resource law, intellectual property law, and litigation by and against the corporation, etc. Economics does not give you an edge in any of these areas that you could not get by being, for example, a philosophy major who just happens to be interested in business. </p>
<p>The best major for being a corporate lawyer is probably accounting. Majoring in accounting, however, is not for everyone and the coursework may not require enough writing to give you the skills to do well in law school. Of course, there are always exceptions.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with those who say that majoring in economics won’t help a corporate lawyer in practice. Of course, course selection matters. Here are some examples of why:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Understanding the relationship between bond yield (YTM), price and duration can be of assistance when advising a client who is a bond issuer/investor when going to market, looking to refinance or making an investment. </p></li>
<li><p>Understanding the price elasticity of demand can be helpful when advising a client who is in a price war, particularly where antitrust issues may be alleged.</p></li>
<li><p>As a transactional lawyer, you must understand the assumptions that your clients have made in their projections and ensure that the deal documentation that you draft supports the stated assumptions. Applied economics and finance are invaluable.</p></li>
<li><p>Understanding financial accounting (you really don’t need to be an accounting major, but a course or two would be helpful) is incredibly important. You need to understand off-balance sheet accounting, income recognition concepts, what is contained in financial statements versus the footnotes to those financial statements (and recognize when disclosures are incomplete or opaque), what actions you might suggest a client take that could have a negative impact on their financial reporting (timing can be a big issue), the timing of disclosure and SFAS and SEC accounting requirements, among other things. Not only is it important to be conversant in these topics, but in the context of larger transactions, a corporate lawyer can be called upon to work closely with accountants to negotiate comfort letters, solvency opinions and even the financial statements and the footnotes thereto.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There are many other reasons why an economics major may have a leg up on an english major when it comes to practicing corporate law. That’s not to say that an english major can never learn these concepts, nor that an economics major may not have his or her head caught up in theory in a manner that has no practical application. In my opinion, an economics major is a fine foundation for someone who may want to be a corporate lawyer. </p>
<p>If an attorney does not understand the issues that are of primary importance to his or her clients, that attorney cannot provide effective counsel. It is invaluable to speak the same language as clients. I find this to be true every day in my venture capital, private equity, securities and M&A practice.</p>
<p>Have to agree with Sally here, though I’m wondering whether economics has similar usefulness for corporate litigators. It’s definitely applicable to bankruptcy.</p>
<p>For that first job for a position where your practice would involve the types of work cited by SallyAwp, it could distinguish you among other candidates. </p>
<p>For ex., an energy company might notice a petroleum engineering undergrad degree, a financial firm would notice an accounting or finance degree, and a hospital could notice a degree in a medical field or health care administration.</p>
<p>Taking an introductory course in economics should be sufficient to enable one to address any issues a client might raise in corporate law. Majoring in economics is no better than majoring in history or English for someone who has taken an intro course in economics.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have to disagree completely with this assertion. It is really the upper level applied economics classes that really help a corporate lawyer out with his or her day-to-day practice.</p>