Gone are the times when litigation and a robe clad barrister used to be the only meaning and face of law in India. Today the scene is such that the corporate law practice is truly international in nature thanks to the fact that India is one of the most fastest growing economies in the world and a signatory to the WTO or world trade organization.
The legal areas of yesteryears such as arbitration, and practice in courts and forums are now existing besides an equally large number of practice areas in corporate such as mergers and acquisitions, restructuring of companies, joint ventures, real estate, capital markets, intellectual property and collaboration of businesses, and tie ups.
If one decides to go for corporate law then there are not only corporate law firms but very many corporate houses, and even banks which will welcome you. The corporate law sector includes jobs in the field of taxation, intellectual property, environment law, banking and international law. There are as many fields as there are corporate houses and the legal fields to gain expertise in are numerous.
Now, I would like to mention the names of a few firms which are corporate giants in the field.
1. Amarchand and Mangaldas and Suresh A Shroff and company
2. AZB and partners
3. Khaitan and company
4. J Sagar Associates
5. Luthra and Luthra law offices
6. Trilegal
7. Desai and Diwanji
8. Talwar Thakore and associates and the list goes on.
The promising areas in these firms are competition laws, media laws, and real estate among others. These are some areas in which toppers from various law schools are found interested. The work that is the back bone of corporate law is contract negotiation and drafting. Plus one must possess excellent communication skills and a good argumentative personality
If you want to become a role model lawyer then you must have the following abilities all rolled into one. These abilities are being a business consultant, an arbitrator and a deal maker together and at once.
What the clients want in a lawyer is his ability to create water tight contracts which give the client a 100% guarantee that he will not be dragged to court.
Now let's look at some of the pros of corporate law practice over litigation. The first factor is that in litigation the major dominance is of established senior advocates and the gestation period is too long i.e. mostly one will spend an entire decade before one can become recognized in the field of litigation and in corporate your start itself is big.
Plus the initial pay package in corporate is 10 times as compared to starting package in litigation so if you plan litigation then you must be prepared to work for little money for a long time and you will be dependent on someone else for your financial needs.
In addition to all this one must also not forget that corporate law avenues are bound to keep increasing with changes in demand and supply at the international level therefore the avenues in corporate are only going to increase
Another major reason why one can think of corporate over litigation is that corporate clients come from various countries and you get a chance to work abroad when you go onsite.
Also, in corporate you get to choose your area of expertise and deliver results and acquire a name in your firm and in the chosen field.
The last and most important thing is that one gets to participate in important strategic decisions related to running of a company while working in corporate.
The conclusion is that the face of law in India has completely changed over the last decade and not only are good corporate law firms burgeoning in India but even foreign law firms are coming in India to hire and corporate law avenues are now at par with options in litigation so one can safely assume that he is doing the right thing in choosing to make a career in corporate.
The legal areas of yesteryears such as arbitration, and practice in courts and forums are now existing besides an equally large number of practice areas in corporate such as mergers and acquisitions, restructuring of companies, joint ventures, real estate, capital markets, intellectual property and collaboration of businesses, and tie ups.
If one decides to go for corporate law then there are not only corporate law firms but very many corporate houses, and even banks which will welcome you. The corporate law sector includes jobs in the field of taxation, intellectual property, environment law, banking and international law. There are as many fields as there are corporate houses and the legal fields to gain expertise in are numerous.
Now, I would like to mention the names of a few firms which are corporate giants in the field.
1. Amarchand and Mangaldas and Suresh A Shroff and company
2. AZB and partners
3. Khaitan and company
4. J Sagar Associates
5. Luthra and Luthra law offices
6. Trilegal
7. Desai and Diwanji
8. Talwar Thakore and associates and the list goes on.
The promising areas in these firms are competition laws, media laws, and real estate among others. These are some areas in which toppers from various law schools are found interested. The work that is the back bone of corporate law is contract negotiation and drafting. Plus one must possess excellent communication skills and a good argumentative personality
If you want to become a role model lawyer then you must have the following abilities all rolled into one. These abilities are being a business consultant, an arbitrator and a deal maker together and at once.
What the clients want in a lawyer is his ability to create water tight contracts which give the client a 100% guarantee that he will not be dragged to court.
Now let's look at some of the pros of corporate law practice over litigation. The first factor is that in litigation the major dominance is of established senior advocates and the gestation period is too long i.e. mostly one will spend an entire decade before one can become recognized in the field of litigation and in corporate your start itself is big.
Plus the initial pay package in corporate is 10 times as compared to starting package in litigation so if you plan litigation then you must be prepared to work for little money for a long time and you will be dependent on someone else for your financial needs.
In addition to all this one must also not forget that corporate law avenues are bound to keep increasing with changes in demand and supply at the international level therefore the avenues in corporate are only going to increase
Another major reason why one can think of corporate over litigation is that corporate clients come from various countries and you get a chance to work abroad when you go onsite.
Also, in corporate you get to choose your area of expertise and deliver results and acquire a name in your firm and in the chosen field.
The last and most important thing is that one gets to participate in important strategic decisions related to running of a company while working in corporate.
The conclusion is that the face of law in India has completely changed over the last decade and not only are good corporate law firms burgeoning in India but even foreign law firms are coming in India to hire and corporate law avenues are now at par with options in litigation so one can safely assume that he is doing the right thing in choosing to make a career in corporate.
