A career in law has many specialisations and being a lawyer requires expertise in various fields. It is not necessary that the graduates who pass Bachelor of Law (LL.B) will be a practising lawyers, there are many other professions for a lawyer which a law graduate can pick up for his/her profession in future. A corporate lawyer is a profession that is in demand these days and is suitable for people who want to work for a popular corporate house rather than work independently. Many corporate law firms go to law colleges for recruiting freshers in their organisation. A corporate lawyer is a highly respectable job and many lawyers are opting for this profession for their future. This article takes a look at the difference between and the challenges in both working as a corporate lawyer or a practising lawyer.
Who are Corporate (in-House) Lawyers?
The corporate lawyer is sometimes known as the in-house lawyer in the business industry. With the development and bloom of the corporate business industry, the need for corporate lawyers is increasing day by day. An in-house corporate lawyer is bound by the company to assist the house as and when there is a need. Corporate lawyers take care of the legal formalities and norms while managers make policies to grow the business. A job of a corporate lawyer is a very challenging one. The corporate lawyer has to keep a check on the legal norms and pave the path for the managers and authority to take any risky step or implement policies for the betterment of the organisation.
Sometimes, the organisation authorities seek the help of the corporate lawyers for making policies and roadmaps for future planning. Corporate lawyers take an active part in managerial roles as well. They can also become good managers or business entrepreneurs if they want to be. For example, the founders of gigantic companies such as Godrej and Indigo are lawyers.
Who are Practising or Trial Lawyers?
Practising lawyers are also called trial lawyers, who are responsible for representing the clients in front of the court as well as defending them to prove them non-guilty. Practising lawyer is one of the most popular branches of lawyer. Before these trial lawyers represent a client, they meet the client to understand every detail regarding the case. The duty of such lawyers is to produce evidence in favour of the client and argue the case with all the facts and their abilities. A Trial lawyer, out of the court reviews files, schedules orders, talks to clients, contacts witnesses and takes depositions, while, inside a courtroom, the lawyer prepares scheduling orders, meets the judges, selects jurors and argues cases.
More than 4 to 5 lakh candidates every year apply for LL.B or LL.M programmes and 60,000 to 70,000 graduates work as Trial lawyers after completing their degree.
Qualities of a Corporate Lawyer vs Practising Lawyer
Though it is true that both professions are interconnected and deal with the same field, depending on the work culture and the demographics where the work would be delivered, there are a lot of different qualities which are needed by both in the two sectors. There are similar qualities as well but the differences required in the qualities of a Practising Lawyer and a Corporate Lawyer are highlighted below.
Qualities of a Corporate Lawyer | Qualities of a Trial or Practising Lawyer |
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Also Read: Studying Law from an NLU vs from a non-NLU institute, where is the difference?
Challenges for a Corporate Lawyer vs Practising Lawer
In the current scenario, working in a corporate organisation as a corporate lawyer is considered as stable but not lucrative. Well, independent practice is indeed a very glamorous profession to be in but that too has its own risks. Though stability and security are a given if you are working as a Corporate Lawyer but even after having all the glamour, legal practice is a one-man-centric work and does not really offer stability.
The work of a corporate lawyer is indeed strenuous, yet structured. The corporate lawyers follow a rigid ruleset imposed by the organisation on workers. Corporate lawyers end up working in certain frameworks to streamline their job and on the other hand, there is no such framework imposed on practising lawyers. Lawyers who are practising independently enjoy a lot of flexibility while working and they also get more opportunities to test their limits by handling different types of incidents in the legal sector. As mentioned above, there is no surety of stability in the job of independently practising lawyers, but if a person is highly skilled and knows what he is doing, the scope for growth is immense. Needless to mention that the growth of a practising lawyer mostly follows a steeper graph than that corporate lawyers.
It is clear from the above comparisons that both the sectors require a lot of hard work and different qualities irrespective of the type of lawyer the person is. Both sectors of law are equally challenging but are rewarding for the individual who is hardworking enough and has mastery over the subject he/she is dealing with.
Also Read: Examinations conducted for law colleges and their accepting institutes
Employment Opportunities for a Corporate Lawyer vs Practising Lawyer
It is seen that many large organizations in order to cut costs have increased their in-house legal departments. As a result, these companies can now shift to in-house legal departments that are very reasonable from the cost of hiring counsel lawyers and their support staff from outside. The shift will lead to the demand for corporate lawyers in various fields such as consulting industries, insurance and financial services and healthcare providers.
A Practising lawyer on the other hand gets a lot of opportunities in law firms and can work for the state, business or private law firm. Let us now understand the type of work that Corporate and Practising lawyers can do.
Job Roles of a Corporate Lawyer | Job Roles of a Trial Lawyer |
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Associate | Trial Lawyer |
Senior Associate | Litigation Associate |
Partner | Junior Attorney |
In-house Counsel | Senior Attorney |
Industry Expert | Litigation Advocate |
Chief Legal Manager | Criminal Lawyer |
Senior Associate Attorney | Civil Lawyer |
Top Law Colleges in India
Enrolling in a top law college is important for establishing a good career in law . Given below are some of the best law institutes in India along with their location. Candidates can pursue a law course from these institutes and embark upon their professional legal journey.
Name of the College | Location |
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Jalandhar, Punjab | |
Bangalore, Karnataka | |
Raipur, Chhattisgarh | |
Gurgaon, Haryana | |
Sonepat, Haryana | |
Bhubaneswar, Odisha | |
Alliance University | Bangalore, Karnataka |
Dehradun, Uttarakhand | |
Brainware University | Kolkata, West Bengal |
Hyderabad, Telangana |
You can fill our Common Application Form (CAF) to find the best law college for yourself. Through CAF, you can apply to multiple colleges and you will also get personal counselling from our admissions experts. They will give you the options of the ideal institutes for you based on your preference. You can also call on the toll-free student helpline number 1800-572-9877.
Stay tuned to CollegeDekho for more law-related articles.
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