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Heerin Seo

ISM 1A

August 31, 2018

Mr. Brandon Walters

Corporate Law Research

Corporate law is the topic I chose for ISM this year, yet there are many aspects about this field

that I am not completely familiar with. Throughout the time allotted to research, I was able to not

only look into the requirements to pursue this field, but also the basic terms and ideas every

paralegal should know as they enter into the field of law.

Job Title:​ When I first graduate from law school and pass the bar wherever I reside, I wish to

become a Corporate counsel to begin. Corporate counselors are hired by businesses,

corporations, and organizations to give advice in and out of the courtroom when it comes to

contracts, offers, and other legal business topics. Counselors differ from attorneys because

attorneys are more related to specific firms and organizations, while counselors are in the legal

profession in the United States overall. After I start off as corporate counselor, I hope to become

a senior counsel of a group who has more management, leadership, and clients than regular

counselors, and soon become a partner at an established firm. At times, students from the top law

schools are scouted by large firms and are given the opportunity to interview for a job. From

here, many of the students are given a mentor to practice and learn law, and eventually they

make their way up to partner.

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Job Description: ​Corporate lawyers work in law firms, where they counsel clients and handle

business transactions including negotiations, drafting, and review of contracts and other

agreements associated with the activities of business. Counselors also advise business clients on

corporate governance and operations issues such as the rights and responsibilities of corporate

directors and officers and the general oversight of the legal activities in the company. Without

Corporate lawyers, businesses would not be able to come to consensus with other companies and

would not be able to grow their name. Much of the underlying work of a business is handled by

Corporate lawyers. Partners are a little bit different in the sense that they are not getting a paid

salary anymore, and instead they own a part of the law firm itself; therefore, the partners are

responsible for hiring the best staff and responsible junior partners, as well as handling the

amount of clients and economic aspects of the company as a whole as well.

Training, Education, and Certification (college or post high school programs and recommended

high school courses):

Becoming a corporate lawyer can take many years, usually up to 8 years; however, some law

firms require the applicant to have up to a doctorate degree. Most undergraduate students will

have pursued a business degree, and have prepared to take the LSAT test to get into law school.

Passing the bar is also a requirement in all states and each state has a different test that an

aspiring lawyer must pass if they were to relocate to a different area. Lawyers must continue in

their education, and depending on the state, are required to take classes every 2-3 years to legally

continue their practice of law to ensure the lawyers are still qualified to practice law.
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Usually, there is no undergraduate major that is preferred, but the most common for

pre-law is English, Political Science, Economics, Business, Philosophy, and Journalism. After

the LSAT is passed, one should get their Juris Doctor because it is a nationally recognized

degree for practicing law in the United States. Most states require lawyers to graduate from an

ABA-approved law school and pass the state bar examination prior to qualifying in that state.

Although each state sets its own testing guidelines, the bar exam is commonly a two day process:

day one is spent completing the Multistate Bar Examination while day two focuses on writing

examinations covering various legal matters. In addition to the bar examination, the state board

of bar examiners also consider the candidate’s educational background, competence, character,

and ability to represent others in legal matters prior to offering full legal licensure. Lawyers can

become associates to begin, or they can continue and work their way to partner. Others continue

their education to get their Master in law for education.

Salary: ​The entry level pay begins around $90,000 with less than 5 years of experience. Partners

at the NJL law firms can make $1.5 million or more depending on how their firm does each year.

First year corporate lawyers can earn as much as $105,000 at a small firm, and as much as

$160,000 at a large firm. Competition for the best corporate law jobs is fierce, and the top

companies can afford to be very picky. One needs to graduate from a top-tier school, such as

Stanford or Harvard, have an excellent GPA and an impressive resume (such as clerking for a

high-powered judge or being the head of law review).Specific fields such as patent attorneys

with several years of experience earn an average salary of over $200,000 per year. Since
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Corporate Lawyers depend on their clients, trial lawyers working for wealthy clients can earn

very large salaries-ranging from $500,000 to as much as $40 million per year.

Career Outlook:​ Employment of lawyers is projected to grow 8 percent from 2016 to 2026,

which is similar to other occupations; however, competition for jobs over the next 10 years is

expected to be strong because more students graduate from law school each year than there are

jobs available.

Terminology: ​ Since law has its own “language” when people are in court and discussing legal

documents, listed below are some of the basic terms every paralegal should be familiar with. The

ones I highlighted usually pertain to business law the most.

(https://www.becomeaparalegal.org/legal-terms-every-paralegal-needs-to-know/)

cause of action:​ ​The reason for which a plaintiff files a complaint or suit against someone. This

can be negligence, breach of contract, malpractice or defamation, to name a few. A cause of

action is divided into elements, and each element must be proved to win the case.

civil law:​ 1) A generic term for all non-criminal law, usually as it applies to settling disputes

between private citizens or entities.

compensatory damages​:​ Damages that are recovered for injury or economic loss. For instance,

if someone is injured in a car accident and the party who injures them has to pay compensatory

damages, the party at fault must cover cost of things such as the ambulance, doctors’ bills,

hospital stays, medicine, physical therapy and lost wages.

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contract:​ An agreement between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing something; this

often involves a promise of something in return for something of value. There are both written

and oral contracts, though in some states oral contracts have little or no standing.

demurrer (dee-muhr-ur):​ A formal response to a complaint filed in a lawsuit, pleading for

dismissal and saying, in effect, that even if the facts are true, there is no legal basis for a lawsuit.

Examples include a missing necessary element of fact, or a complaint that is unclear. The judge

can agree and “leave to amend,” giving the claimant the opportunity to amend the complaint. If it

is not amended to the judge’s satisfaction, the demurrer is granted. (Some states use a motion to

dismiss.)

depose:​ To testify or give under oath or sworn affidavit.

diligence:​ Reasonable care or attention to a matter; for instance, looking both ways before

proceeding after stopping at a stop sign, washing your hands before cooking food in a restaurant

or operating in a hospital or checking brakes and other mechanical components on tour buses at

regular intervals. Due diligence denotes what a normal, responsible person would do under the

same conditions.

felony:​ A serious crime punishable by death or at least one year in a state or federal prison.

Felonies include arson, rape, perjury and homicide. When theft is involved, the value of that

which was stolen determines whether the offense is considered a misdemeanor or felony.

prima facie (pry-mah fay-shah)​:​ Latin for “at first look,” or “on its face,” prima facie refers to

what can be presumed after the first disclosure.

prima facie case:​ A case where, upon first look, the facts themselves prove the case.
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can keep it from being destroyed while the court decides whether it is a landmark.

punitive damages:​ Damages awarded over and above compensatory damages for punishment. If

the act causing the injury was committed out of negligence or malice, punitive damages serve not

only as a punishment, but as an example or deterrent to others. It also helps put the injured party

on a level playing field. For instance, an individual who loses a leg when hit by a drunk driver

cannot be awarded a new leg, but a monetary award can help that person face the resultant

obstacles.

stare decisis​:​ Latin for “to stand by things decided,” to adhere to precedents of earlier cases as

sources of law. When an issue has already been ruled upon by a court, other cases involving the

same issue must receive the same response from that court or lower courts.

statute:​ A written law passed by Congress or another legislative body.

title​:​ The legal basis ownership of real or personal property or a document that serves as serves

as evidence of this ownership. Deeds for real estate, and titles for cars and boats are examples of

titles.

tort​:​ From the French word for “wrong,” a tort is a wrongful or illegal act, whether intentional or

accidental, in which an injury occurs to another. An intentional tort may also be a crime, such as

battery, fraud or theft. Tort law is one of the largest areas of civil law.
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Seven things I want to learn about my topic:

1. I know that many lawyers usually go into business and even become CEO’s once they are

done with they legal careers, so is it because of the many connections one makes as a

lawyer?

2. What types of big customers do law firms look for when they consider an individual to

become a partner?

3. What are the emotional stressors that come with being a corporate lawyer other than the

extensive work hours and work in a chair? Are there specific timelines that a group is

supposed to meet and if so, what are the processes that one usually takes to review a

case?

4. Are there are other career fields that these successful Corporate Lawyers wanted to

pursue? What the “hidden” aspects of the job that I should know about? Is there a lot of

discrimination that is still present within certain firms?

5. What are personalities of successful Corporate lawyers like? If I were to meet these

people outside of the workplace, how would they act?

6. Does Corporate law teach you a lot about the business realm that you could go and work

in a business after being a lawyer successfully? What are skills that businessmen have

that the Corporate lawyers at their side do not have?

7. Who are the certain individuals who became successful partners and CEO’s without the

extensive workloads many lawyers go through without recognition? What is the best way

to stand out and get to the top other than the cliche of working hard and being driven?