How To Become A Corporate Lawyer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a corporate lawyer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

William Logue

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a corporate lawyer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $61.13 an hour? That's $127,152 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 80,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a corporate lawyer?

William Logue

Director of Dispute Resolution Training Interim Director of Summer Programs, Quinnipiac University

New graduates in dispute resolution will face a different world than just a few months ago.

If graduates want to start as an independent third-party neutral, it will be challenging to establish a reputation, and bring in business. There are many other opportunities to use and apply the skills - as specialized conflict managers, and dispute resolvers, or using those skills that will make them more useful and valued as part of another job.

Graduates should look at where their skills can be used within organizations - that may be as a mediator, in an ombuds office, in HR, or as a project facilitator. They should think of how their dispute resolution skills can supplement other substantive knowledge to help the organization move forward - especially with more remote work and the tensions that can bring. They can also think about how they can skillfully facilitate work between workgroups and divisions, and act as conflict coaches to individuals.

ScoreCorporate LawyerUS Average

Salary

8.3

Avg. Salary $127,152

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 6.24%

Black or African American 5.40%

Hispanic or Latino 7.62%

Unknown 4.36%

White 76.07%

Gender

female 56.34%

male 43.66%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a corporate lawyer

Explore corporate lawyer education requirements

Most common corporate lawyer degrees

Bachelor's

34.8 %

Doctorate

29.0 %

Master's

24.6 %

Start to develop specific corporate lawyer skills

Skills	Percentages
Legal Issues	17.02%
Securities	9.57%
Corporate Law	8.48%
Legal Research	8.20%
Legal Advice	7.13%

Complete relevant corporate lawyer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New corporate lawyers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a corporate lawyer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real corporate lawyer resumes.

Research corporate lawyer duties and responsibilities

Manage day-to-day legal affairs of NYSE list airline.
Participate in litigation involving consumer contracts.
Provide representation in court for general jurisdiction and arbitration.
Assist clients in various mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, including drafting and negotiating transaction documents and coordinating closing matters.

Prepare your corporate lawyer resume

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