How to Know If Corporate Law is For You (srs answers pls)! Forum

[sarahh]

I agree that talking to a corporate attorney is the best idea. I talked to an estate planning attorney when I was deciding whether I should apply, and it was very helpful to find out what she actually did. I know you said you do not know one personally, but can you ask around and see if anyone you know knows one? Maybe contact your alumni organization? If not, you can just try cold contacting people in your area.

[rayiner]

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

Agree or disagree? (Everyone I know who agrees loves doing corp law/lit, everyone I've met who disagreed -or I presume would disagree based on their comments- hated it, not even close to joking).

You sound young.

[Veyron]

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

Agree or disagree? (Everyone I know who agrees loves doing corp law/lit, everyone I've met who disagreed -or I presume would disagree based on their comments- hated it, not even close to joking).

You sound young.

About average age for a (non-NU) law student. Ad hominem much?

[ahduth]

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

Agree or disagree? (Everyone I know who agrees loves doing corp law/lit, everyone I've met who disagreed -or I presume would disagree based on their comments- hated it, not even close to joking).

You sound young.

They really are rather exuberant aren't they. It'd be charming if it weren't so cliche.

[paratactical]

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

Agree or disagree? (Everyone I know who agrees loves doing corp law/lit, everyone I've met who disagreed -or I presume would disagree based on their comments- hated it, not even close to joking).

You sound young.

You sound like you haven't been drinking enough since you haven't been hanging out with me.

[rayiner]

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

Agree or disagree? (Everyone I know who agrees loves doing corp law/lit, everyone I've met who disagreed -or I presume would disagree based on their comments- hated it, not even close to joking).

You sound young.

About average age for a (non-NU) law student. Ad hominem much?

I wasn't attacking your argument by attacking you. I was just attacking you.

It would be ad hominem if I said your application of the fallacy must be wrong because you are young.

[Veyron]

Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

Agree or disagree? (Everyone I know who agrees loves doing corp law/lit, everyone I've met who disagreed -or I presume would disagree based on their comments- hated it, not even close to joking).

You sound young.

About average age for a (non-NU) law student. Ad hominem much?

I wasn't attacking your argument by attacking you. I was just attacking you.

It would be ad hominem if I said your application of the fallacy must be wrong because you are young.

Thought it was implied. As long as you acknowledge my correctness, all is well.

[rayiner]

You sound young.

About average age for a (non-NU) law student. Ad hominem much?

I wasn't attacking your argument by attacking you. I was just attacking you.

It would be ad hominem if I said your application of the fallacy must be wrong because you are young.

Thought it was implied. As long as you acknowledge my correctness, all is well.

Why do you assume I acknowledge your correctness? I have not addressed your "argument."

[Veyron]

[/quote]

I wasn't attacking your argument by attacking you. I was just attacking you.

It would be ad hominem if I said your application of the fallacy must be wrong because you are young.[/quote]

Thought it was implied. As long as you acknowledge my correctness, all is well.[/quote]

Why do you assume I acknowledge your correctness? I have not addressed your "argument."[/quote]

Silence is consent.

[paratactical]

Silence is consent.

QFP in future rape case.

[marshall_eriksen]

...anyone got answers to my question lol?

[Veyron]

...anyone got answers to my question lol?

Brah, corp law isn't going to exist by the time you get to law school, I wouldn't worry about it.

[omninode]

...anyone got answers to my question lol?

Brah, corp law isn't going to exist by the time you get to law school, I wouldn't worry about it.

True. It will have been replaced by robot law.

Not to be confused with robot law enforcement, i.e. RoboCop.

[Veyron]

...anyone got answers to my question lol?

Brah, corp law isn't going to exist by the time you get to law school, I wouldn't worry about it.

True. It will have been replaced by robot law.

Not to be confused with robot law enforcement, i.e. RoboCop.

If by replaced by robots you mean outsourced to India and if by robot law enforcement you mean... INTERNATONAL LAW!

P.S. I love how Indian lawyers can practice law in America but Americans can't practice law in India. I love even more how Commerade Obama dropped trying to change this from his agenda in India. Free trade FAIL.

[GeePee]

...anyone got answers to my question lol?

Judging by your reasons for pursuing corporate law, there's a significant chance you have no idea what a "corporate attorney" does, and the variation that exists in different capacity. You probably want to either speak to practicing attorneys, become a paralegal, or somehow do other research that lets you know what these individuals really do.

If you think you're interested more in the "corporate" part of things than the "law" part, forget law school. You'd be much happier with a job and an eventual business school degree, if it fits your needs.

[marshall_eriksen]

...anyone got answers to my question lol?

Judging by your reasons for pursuing corporate law, there's a significant chance you have no idea what a "corporate attorney" does, and the variation that exists in different capacity. You probably want to either speak to practicing attorneys, become a paralegal, or somehow do other research that lets you know what these individuals really do.

If you think you're interested more in the "corporate" part of things than the "law" part, forget law school. You'd be much happier with a job and an eventual business school degree, if it fits your needs.

I really don't get why someone can't just give me 2-3 sentences about what a corporate attorney does. Not to be a dick or anything, but seriously, if just 4 of these posts talking about how I'm young and naive (I already know that) instead wrote one sentence about what a corporate attorney does, what are the typical daily tasks, what types of people enjoy it, I could have had a paragraph by now!

I understand that I have no idea what a corporate attorney does, hence why I'm asking. I also understand that I should talk to professionals, and I'm trying to do that along with trying google, but in the mean time, can't someone throw me a bone here? I've already mentioned that it is very difficult for me to talk to professionals just like that because I have no lawyers in my family, I'm nowhere near a major legal market, etc. so can someone please just very, very briefly state what a corporate attorney does and just help me out a bit?

[Veyron]

I understand that I have no idea what a corporate attorney does, hence why I'm asking. I also understand that I should talk to professionals, and I'm trying to do that along with trying google, but in the mean time, can't someone throw me a bone here? I've already mentioned that it is very difficult for me to talk to professionals just like that because I have no lawyers in my family, I'm nowhere near a major legal market, etc. so can someone please just very, very briefly state what a corporate attorney does and just help me out a bit?

ITT: OP stubbornly refuses to recognize that he has already been given a serious answer.

[concurrent fork]

...anyone got answers to my question lol?

Judging by your reasons for pursuing corporate law, there's a significant chance you have no idea what a "corporate attorney" does, and the variation that exists in different capacity. You probably want to either speak to practicing attorneys, become a paralegal, or somehow do other research that lets you know what these individuals really do.

If you think you're interested more in the "corporate" part of things than the "law" part, forget law school. You'd be much happier with a job and an eventual business school degree, if it fits your needs.

I really don't get why someone can't just give me 2-3 sentences about what a corporate attorney does. Not to be a dick or anything, but seriously, if just 4 of these posts talking about how I'm young and naive (I already know that) instead wrote one sentence about what a corporate attorney does, what are the typical daily tasks, what types of people enjoy it, I could have had a paragraph by now!it

This is because "corporate lawyer" is an umbrella term which is almost as broad as "transactional lawyer." Also, assuming you are talking about a biglaw gig, the type of work varies considerably by experience/class year.

Generally, on deals, you probably have a bunch of M&A associates marking up documents and doing due diligence, and working closely with other groups like tax/IP/employee benefits for the more specialized issues. You might have to coordinate with a team spread across multiple offices or countries. If in a public companies practice, you will draft a lot of documents, work with securities regs, and occasionally an IPO.

On the litigation side, you will beat down shareholders (who sue every time they lose money).

[gambelda]

Sadly, I don't know any corporate attorneys are getting into i-banking will be tough because I don't go to a top school. That's why I was looking to this forum for advice

This is a weak excuse that really states "I am lazy" I got hied by a top consulting firm straight out of UG that specifically avoids hiring at my school.

Go utilize LinkedIN. Make an account, message some people with jobs you're interested in. Hop on phone calls, talk to them about what they do, what they enjoy, what they hate, etc. Find what you are looking for and expand your network. Then target those people about jobs after a few conversations.....

Seriously, in business it's not what you know but WHO YOU KNOW.

[Lwoods]

I really don't get why someone can't just give me 2-3 sentences about what a corporate attorney does. Not to be a dick or anything, but seriously, if just 4 of these posts talking about how I'm young and naive (I already know that) instead wrote one sentence about what a corporate attorney does, what are the typical daily tasks, what types of people enjoy it, I could have had a paragraph by now!

I understand that I have no idea what a corporate attorney does, hence why I'm asking. I also understand that I should talk to professionals, and I'm trying to do that along with trying google, but in the mean time, can't someone throw me a bone here? I've already mentioned that it is very difficult for me to talk to professionals just like that because I have no lawyers in my family, I'm nowhere near a major legal market, etc. so can someone please just very, very briefly state what a corporate attorney does and just help me out a bit?

TBF, most posters on here (myself included) are not attorneys. Also, rayiner was calling veyron young, not you.

I can only offer what I observed as a support staffer at a BigLaw firm. I worked much more closely with partners than associates (plus associates are typically more self-sufficient), so I imagine I'm missing some of the more tedious work. I also only worked with transactional, bankruptcy and tax attorneys. I didn't work with Litigation attorneys.

Transactional attorneys work with the agreements used in transactions--purchase agreement, merger agreement, offering memos, etc. They work with their clients in-house counsel and opposing counsel to flesh out the best deal for their clients. They do this using strict attention to detail, lots of revisions (you have no idea how many), and keeping up to date with how to use various tools and clauses (MAE, poison pills, etc.). Associates are sometimes asked to research subtle differences in existing agreements for a particular industry or that type of thing. Partners are talking to the clients more while associates are revising the agreements (the partners review the revisions, though, and add their own, ime). The sexiest part of corporate transactional law is when there's some strategy involved. Say, for example, Mark Zuckerburg decides he wants to sell Facebook after all. Microsoft and Yahoo will be bidding on it, but you represent a smaller company that wants to buy it. How do you help your client win the bid without bankrupting them?

If you want an example of agreements, browse through some SEC filings. I usually like to search by company and then go from there:
http://sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html

gotta run to a meeting. hth!


ETA: I still highly recommend working in a support staff and/or intern role at firm over the summer. That will tell you far more than I can.

[jgloster]

This is why i sometimes find this forum to be full of suckage. No one wants to give a straight answer, everyone wants to give a witty rejoinder.

[paratactical]

This is why i sometimes find this forum to be full of suckage. No one wants to give a straight answer, everyone wants to give a witty rejoinder.

Because "what a corporate attorney does" is pretty damn broad because it changes based on the level of experience the attorney has, the market they work in, the kind of firm they work for, the kind of deal they are staffed on and the kind of client they are working for and summing it up into two or three sentences to get a "straight answer" is probably not really as helpful as people seem to think.

[JazzOne]

Kinda sounds like you just need to get any work experience between now and law school to get some perspective. The question you're asking is akin to "will I enjoy a career in prostitution?" while you're still a virgin.

...? I have had work experience before. I worked at Ernst and Young in Transaction Advisory Services for the summer where I helped do research and whatnot on private equity firms to see whether or not it is feasible to pursue business with the companies and whatnot. That's how I know that a. I enjoy business b. I want to be more on the support role and not so much on the deal-making side. See, I see myself as more of a facilitator to a deal rather than the person who schmoozes the client into doing it. I bet that corporate lawyers play a role in convincing the firms being acquired on the legal implications and whatnot, and I think I would enjoy that. I am wondering how I can get more info, because I have an idea about what I want, but I want to make sure corporate law fits that criteria.

You sound a lot like me, except I blew my chance at getting a "sick" job (100+ hours of work) cause i was a bum. and I went to a target school. I went to law school pretty much to do corporate law (M&A, Anti-trust, securities). The reason I like it (or think i will) is that you deal with a lot of the same concepts, except you deal with the framework of it, the structure, while others do the numbers and actually run the business. Instead of actually running the business, you advise it and help it succeed in that way. If that sounds interesting then you might like it, and if you dont, you still make bank. I havent been an i banker but i have a lot of friends that are, and they pretty much hate their life. I don't think that the hours really compare unless you are extremely inefficient with your time at work in a firm.

I get what you're saying, but can you elaborate a bit more on the "framework of it, the structure" part? Also, what do you mean by the "same concepts".

Thanks for the responses so far

Think about transactional work.