Corporate Law Forum

[Mobarry]

I have a question for everyone. I wanted to know if it is advisable to pursue a corporate law degree, if you are currently majoring in International Relations. I do not have a business background per se, but have taken multiple economics and economic related courses. Could some one tell me more possibly about Corporate law as well. Also I am interested in constitutional Law but am not too sure what job one would get with that degree. I know many of the jobs related to that field would be government jobs but I wanted to know specifics and possible examples.

[vyelps]

OP, i think you're confused about the law school curriculum. You don't "major" in law school like you did in college. Everyone gets the same degree- J.D. If you want, you can take a lot of corporate law classes or con law classes and specialize in some way. However, most students take a breadth of courses while sort of focusing on one or two areas of law. Plenty of people who are interested in con law go into the private sector in appellate practices or administrative law/regulatory practices. Also, your undergraduate degree has little impact on your ability to pursue a specific career path. Doing IR is fine. There are certainly undergraduate classes that could be helpful in the future- accounting, finance, foreign languages, etc., but not having these in no way prevents you from doing corporate law.

Incidentally do you know what corporate law is? I know that when I was an 0L, I used to just group all types of private sector attorneys into corporate law, which is certainly not the case.

[dougroberts]

I do agree with vyelps. In addition, there generally is no such thing as "corporate law," because if you work in a large corporation's legal department you generally specialize in one area like Employment Law, Tax, Intellectual Property, Real Estate, Commercial Transactions, etc. depending on the nature of the business.

That being said, if you are interested in this area you should take courses in a few of these areas. Some companies do have "generalists" who basically assist in all areas above, but generally your best bet is to pick 1-3 of these areas and take classes in those areas. I know this from interning at a Fortune 25's legal department.

Finally, "corporate law" is not something you can generally go into straight from law school. Most large corporations (smaller ones may be more lenient) require that you have 5-7 years experience working in a larger law firm before jumping to an in-house position. HOWEVER, there are exceptions to this rule. In fact I interned the largest company in my state and they do not follow this rule.

In re: to your undergraduate degree, IR is not necessarily a bar to working in a corporate setting, but it definitely is not advantageous. A finance, accounting, or business strategy undergraduate degree will help you the most in this area, and be a great job-finding asset. But again, any other degree does not prevent you from going in to the corporate world.

[vyelps]

I do agree with vyelps. In addition, there generally is no such thing as "corporate law," because if you work in a large corporation's legal department you generally specialize in one area like Employment Law, Tax, Intellectual Property, Real Estate, Commercial Transactions, etc. depending on the nature of the business.

That being said, if you are interested in this area you should take courses in a few of these areas. Some companies do have "generalists" who basically assist in all areas above, but generally your best bet is to pick 1-3 of these areas and take classes in those areas. I know this from interning at a Fortune 25's legal department.

Finally, "corporate law" is not something you can generally go into straight from law school. Most large corporations (smaller ones may be more lenient) require that you have 5-7 years experience working in a larger law firm before jumping to an in-house position. HOWEVER, there are exceptions to this rule. In fact I interned the largest company in my state and they do not follow this rule.

In re: to your undergraduate degree, IR is not necessarily a bar to working in a corporate setting, but it definitely is not advantageous. A finance, accounting, or business strategy undergraduate degree will help you the most in this area, and be a great job-finding asset. But again, any other degree does not prevent you from going in to the corporate world.

Sorry but this is NOT correct. You are confusing an "in-house" counsel with "corporate lawyer." Most major firms have corporate departments that handle M&A, Securities, and other types of transactional work. Corporate law does exist and you can certainly go into it after law school. Your comment is correct wrt going in house for an individual company.

[Pip]

You are way off base on your assumption that corporations don't hire graduates out of law school. Every corporation mid-size to very large DO hire some directly out of law school. Though as a general rule they progress much slower up the ladder than the ones that are hired in from a law firm with years of legal experience. Also the corporate position tend to be highly competitive for graduate with the corporation looking for the top of their class graduates.

[rdcws000]

You are way off base on your assumption that corporations don't hire graduates out of law school. Every corporation mid-size to very large DO hire some directly out of law school. Though as a general rule they progress much slower up the ladder than the ones that are hired in from a law firm with years of legal experience. Also the corporate position tend to be highly competitive for graduate with the corporation looking for the top of their class graduates.

Actually, dougroberts explained the "general rule" very well, and proceeded to call out that there are exceptions.

HOWEVER, there are exceptions to this rule. In fact I interned the largest company in my state and they do not follow this rule.

I would be less inclined to agree with your argument that

Every corporation mid-size to very large DO hire some directly out of law school.

In fact, some do not.