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Eh, corporate law to politics? Sure, it could be done. People go from all sorts of random self serving professions into politics. The reason people with military and prosecution experience get into politics is a demonstrated commitment to public service. And they're rich. I'd look at your state attorney's office, DA's, and DOJ if you are serious about it.

Kind of depends on what you mean by politics. If you mean some kind of appointed/ staff/ thinktank/ lobbying gig then corporate lit will probably work fine as long as it comes in conjunction with the whole super-competitive hyper-genius law review/ clerkship thing.
If it's anything where you might want someone to vote for you "rich corporate lawyer" may not be the greatest way to paint yourself.

A lot of Attorney Generals end up running for higher office. I do not think it really has much to do with what field of law you go into and more so if you can gather a following and are that kind of person.

There are a lot of smart people in politics. Probably 75% of them are behind the scenes, but there are a lot of idiots that are in office and running for office right now.

Corporate law may be the single worst choice for a subsequent career in politics for several reasons including the fact that your corporate employer most likely will avoid you like the plague to protect corporate interests as will the remaining corporate employees. And, as written above, very few are motivated to vote for rich corporate lawyers.

Corporate law is not that bad of a way into politics. Work your ass off, get into biglaw, move to a suburb-urban town (like if D.C. then LaPlata), then donate about 50% of what you make to the local politician/ dominant political party. Eventually someone will throw you a bone and there you go, you're in politics. If people like you, then go on and try to run for elected office.

Of course if you want big city politics it will be a little harder because you won't really have deep enough pockets to outright buy a job. After years of being an active donor though you will probably get a chance though. This probably works for appointed judgeships too.

Other than that community organizing seems like a good profession whatever that is.

Yeah there are a lot of ways into politics. This guy is currently running for office (apart from a slight gaffe of including swastikas in his campaign materials, he's been running a great campaign so far)

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/m ... le&u=48636



I'm sure he'd be glad to answer any questions.

It also depends on the party. Corporate law would be much more accepted in conservative circles than in liberal ones for instance.

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law1107 wrote:all of what you guys have said so far had been what I have been thinking myself, and the fact that you say it too kind of cements what I already thought about it. I did however think that it would be more acceptable in the conservative cycle, protecting big business, maybe making some connections with corporate leaders.

But if not corporate law then what? Im really into business law, but I also was considering to focus in on constitutional law in law school, the only thing with that though is that I really have no idea what kind of lawyer deals with primarily constitutional law?

Ones that sue cops. Ones that do discriminatory issues. Constitutional Law is a mixed bag.

AREJAY's advice is correct in the respect that you can buy your way into politics, but that was not your question as I understand it. You can also attach yourself to one side of a highly controversial issue--such as abortion--to vie for your party's nomination. But single issue candidates are unlikely corporate employees.

Honestly, the best way into politics through law does not require any specific field. You need to work as an attorney, pool your assets, and start locally. Do not expect to just jump into a congressional or senatorial race, as you need broad support. Start with your local town and county and win the support and lines in that area, and then begin to host events that people can attend to and support. You will have to call many delegates to get your name backed by the major party, and then you can begin to fund raise, hire staff, and select an office to run for.

from what i've seen the only thing you really need to get into politics is to be a complete douchebag, being a corporate lawyer usually increases your doucheness.

Are you smarter than this guy, if so, than I really don't think it matters what type of law you go into.

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or these
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imbored25 wrote:from what i've seen the only thing you really need to get into politics is to be a complete douchebag, being a corporate lawyer usually increases your doucheness.

know people with money
kiss their ass
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profit
....
/self

You just need money or know people with money (who would give to you). You also need to be able to say the right things at the right times. What kind of law doesn't matter as long as you can do the first 2 things. Be prepared to be attacked for whatever kind of law you practice in campaign ads. And be comfortable about fighting dirty in return (or at least allow your staffers to do so).

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law1107 wrote:do you think I would have time to campaign, ect. while working for a firm or is that just to unrealistic with the hours? And would a firm probably frown upon an associate running for office and potentially bringing bad light on the firm?

if you love that sorta shit you could just use it as your socializing time

Join the Marines, then become a community organizer.

Go to community college and graduate with a degree in radiology tech:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brewer

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Corporate law certainly works as a path to elected office.

I would think a common path might look like:
[Probably not for a highly competitive political area like NYC or Chicago]

1) Enter corporate firm. Save as much money as possible for both a future personal warchest and donations to local elites.
2) Figure out who matters in local politics and contribute to their campaigns as much as possible. Make friends not just with elected politicians, but also with party elites (county/city party chairman, etc.).
3) Since your profession wont' give you an inherently positive image, maintain high profile roles in prominent charities/public initiatives.
4) Once you're well networked, and have given tons of your money away for years, talk to the local party elites and tell them you're interested in running for public office. Keep in mind that usually parties recruit candidates, not the other way around.

There are certainly virtues to both the DA/Prosecutor path (public service resume) and the Corporate Law/Business path (funds/access to local elites), so long as you know how to leverage them.

I would assume that most firms would not only be willing to keep on a politician, they would do so enthusiastically. Look on the rosters of many law firms and you'll see former/current Senators/Congressman/State Leg's/etc. It looks very good for a firm to have a man in state leg. on payroll, and this could serve as a major selling point to clients, particularly clients in regulation heavy industries.

Look at the backgrounds of many lawyer/politicains on wikipedia. You'll commonly find that the "worked in private practive" before entering politics.

I would think one would be better off avoiding litigation and focusing on transactional. There's simply a lot less controversy in the more pure business side, plus easy to spin as "spent my early years helping local businesses to grow bullshit bullshit bullshit."

The bigger question is...why on earth would you subject yourself and your family to the dehumanizing process that is the modern American political arena.