Business Law Attorney
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The corporate law attorney came striding into the courtroom with a distinct air of confidence. The barrister was one of over twelve lawyers on the plaintiff's legal team, put together by lead counsel to bring about a demise to a corporate entity long accused of being a monopoly in the gas and oil business. The nuanced distinctions between a monopoly and an oligopoly would be the key in this particular lawsuit. While a monopoly is simply defined as only one seller but many buyers, an oligopoly is a market where control of a commodity is in the hands of a few producers and each one can influence prices. Only a highly trained and informed business law attorney could make sense of the legalese that would be flying around the courtroom for those few weeks. When someone outside the legal world understands all of the training one must possess to be a reputable and admired corporate law attorney, a new appreciation of his or her skills will be born.
Listen to the litany of classes to be covered in law school for the one specializing in corporate regulations. A legal student must understand contracts, corporation and other business organizations, the realm of intellectual property including trademarks, patents, trade secrets and rights of publicity. In addition, there are areas such as antitrust, secured transactions and understanding commercial paper, which is a money market security issued by large banks and corporations. But there is more. There is a need to understand income taxes, pensions and benefits, trusts and estates, law dealing with immigration, labor, employment and bankruptcy. While a corporate law attorney may have some expertise in more than one of these areas, it is more likely that the business law attorney will specialize in a single area and become an expert sought out for niche cases and issues needing a high degree of acumen in that particular legal genre. "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." (Luke 6:35)
The men and women who may act on behalf of a corporation or a small business are usually paid well, and may have different fee arrangements. For instance, the business law attorney may, in some instance, charge a flat fee for things such as articles of incorporation, tax issues or other concern. The corporate attorney may also ask to be paid by the hour. Many legal practitioners will also bill for percentages of an hour spent doing things as phone conversations on the client's behalf, time going over the case, research on the case, filing, copying and other details. In many cases, a barrister may be put on retainer which means money paid up front as a down payment on future legal representation that may come up, and that also means that the legal practitioner agrees to be available any time the client needs the barrister. Finally, an attorney may be paid on contingency, meaning that on depending on the outcome of the legal case and on the financial settlement, the attorney will take a percentage of the judgment. It is more likely that a business law attorney or corporate attorney will work on an hourly basis, with many of the most successful being retained by both individuals and corporations who want the security of knowing instant attention will be given at a moment's notice.
Almost seven and a half percent of Americans are attorneys of some kind or another. Training to be an attorney takes four years of undergraduate work and degree and then three years of legal school study, which has become very competitive to enter. Of course, there is the dreaded bar entrance exam which all candidates must take and pass before becoming licensed barristers in the state where they reside. Many states recognize the licenses granted in other states. Unless new legal school graduates come from top-notch law schools, the prospect of finding work in the big city is more difficult than might be assumed. Almost thirty percent of all attorneys are self employed, meaning they are either partners in a legal firm or work on a solo basis. Employment for new legal practitioners is often best found in smaller towns or in the suburbs of larger cities.
Those wishing to be a business law attorney or a corporate law attorney must possess a number of innate skills to be successful. It is not a surprise that the test one must take to even get into legal school is all about reasoning. Due to the highly complex cases that these legal practitioners must often face, being able to figure out ways to get out of complex situations or figuring out a reasonable compromise or knowing when to cut and run is of an absolute necessity. But there are plenty of attorneys that are extremely knowledgeable of the law and would love to keep practicing law except for having to work with people. Having a good personality and the ability to get along with all sorts of quirky people is high on the list of important assets a barrister must possess.
If a corporation's future is on the line, perhaps there is something to be said for an attorney who is considered ruthless. Let nothing get in the way of a judgment for the client. After all, it is the American judicial system. But many times, jobs are lost and people hurt, all because of greed or just because the law is on a particular side. Like so many things in the world, in a hundred years what real difference will it make for us to be ever protecting our personal turf?
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