<p>I want to be a corporate lawyer. A relative of mine is one, and the work that they do interests me. However, I always see people with horror stories about how there is too many lawyers and many end up not getting hired and end up knee deep in debts from law school. Is this the case for corp law as well? Should I find a new career to aim for?</p>
<p>I'm only a junior in hs but I really have no idea what I will do when I apply to college in the fall.</p>
<p>Keep your dream in mind, but think of related careers, too, or targeted fields that may be corporate in nature, such as energy, environmental or bankruptcy (three booming law fields). By “corporate lawyer,” do you mean doing corporate work (mergers, setting up businesses, etc.) or do you mean working as a lawyer “in house” within a corporation, such as, say, IBM. People mix those up all the time. If you do pursue true corporate law, you need to go to a really good law school to get into the very large or very prestigious law firms (that is if you want to make a lot of money and work on the most interesting deals). Indeed, there are far too many lawyers (even in corporate law). The articles you are reading are on target, and we have seen it over and over firsthand. If you go into law, unless you want to make just an average law salary, you need to do your best on grades and choice of schools.</p>
<p>My relative does things like proof-read contracts as one of their tasks, so I think I mean the latter? Is that true corporate law? I might have it confused.</p>
<p>What fields of law are booming, also?</p>
<p>Bankruptcy, environmental, energy (oil, gas, other energies), technology law (tech) are the best fields at the moment. I am betting your relative is in a corporation’s law/legal department and probably not a private law firm. </p>
<p>Oh yeah he is in a corporation! Is there jobs in that? I think it sounds interesting.</p>
<p>Nicobella, you are wise to be thinking about job prospects for lawyers at this stage of the game. It is true that the job market is a lot smaller now than it was way back when I got out of law school. (1987, long before you were born!)</p>
<p>I work inhouse (i.e., in the legal department) at a large company. Generally speaking, those are jobs that lawyers get after they have been in a private law firm for a number of years. Either the grind of the long law firm hours gets to them after awhile, or they realize they aren’t going to make partner (and very few do, especially equity partners, meaning those who actually share in the profits of the firm), and the lifestyle of the inhouse lawyer seems much more attractive even though the pay is substantially less. It’s not a pittance, mind you, in the grand scheme of things, but I do not make a salary comparable to my law school peers who stayed in law firms.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of competition for these inhouse jobs. I’ve interviewed amazing candidates with great experience, but when you only have one slot open in your unit, what can you do? You can’t hire them all. We generally end up going with the person we think will be the “better fit” for a corporate law department. And that is not a small thing – one thing that is extremely different about working inhouse vs. working at a law firm is that you are with your “clients” all the time. A lot of law firm lawyers, especially younger ones, talk about wanting to get out from behind their desks and have “client contact”, but you have that at an extreme level when you work inhouse. And while that’s good – I really like the business people I work with – you have to remember all the time that you are not dealing with other lawyers, and so the writing style and presentation style is way different from that of a firm. When I was at a law firm, my clients were mostly the inhouse lawyers of corporations, so you were still talking to other lawyers. Legal writing and analysis can get very stilted and detailed at times – most of senior management here needs the equivalent of an “elevator pitch” when they ask you your opinion. So it’s just a much different kind of practice. More “cut to the chase” – summarize first, details later…maybe. And be prepared for lots of involvement in all kinds of discussions and issues where you think, “Is there even a legal question here?” Because they don’t pay you by the hour, so lots of times I am invited to meetings where I’m maybe not needed, but they like the idea of the attorney listening in. Whatever, that’s okay. I learn the business that way, and that’s VERY important to be an effective inhouse lawyer. </p>
<p>Bottom line for me is: I love it! I went in house VERY early in my career, after only two years at a private firm, and I NEVER looked back. I’m sure I made a financial sacrifice, but it’s okay – I’ve managed to work full time and be a mom and juggle everything fairly well. (Some days better than others.) I was in the right place at the right time when the position opened up, because as I said, inhouse positions usually go to people 6 and 7 years out. But there was an opening for a junior attorney only a few years out, and the career placement officer at my law school mentioned it to me. (It’s always a good thing to keep in contact with your school’s placement office. I don’t know how they’re set up now, but in the old days, young alumni could come in and look at job listings in binders. I’m sure everything is online now.)</p>
<p>So…where’s all this going? My advice would be, if you want to go to law school, as everyone else said, go to a competitive college and do well there. Prep well for your LSAT and get into as good a law school as you can. While in school, check into internships at inhouse law departments – it is always good to make contacts with the inhouse lawyers at different companies. When they are looking for a full time person later on, it could well be you. </p>
<p>Hope some of this was helpful. Sorry to go on for so long! </p>
<p>That was extremely helpful, thank you! It helped me understand more what the job is like so definitely thanks for that :)</p>
<p>Hopefully my relative who I believe is inhouse would be able to assist me in getting a job or an internship or something as well. </p>