To be very true, there are very few people (including the lawyers themselves) who are of the opinion that lawyers and solicitors are getting underpaid. On the contrary, majority of people believe that corporate lawyers are amongst the most highly paid ones. Now this is the really tricky part, as to define the limit of being paid highly.
When we talk of corporate lawyer salary, there are many aspects that should be considered. Do you really see any limit to a person’s education, qualification, training, experience, and wit in protecting their client’s rights? Well, as with any other profession, there are many factors playing in determination of the remunerations of a qualified corporate lawyer, like their specialization and experience.
Not only that, one’s individual skill and ability to stand above their colleagues also plays part in their salaries. You cannot over rule the free market competition that always seems to dominate in determining the remunerations of people associated with any particular occupation. Similarly, corporate lawyer salary is also dependent on many variables. This article further examines some of the most significant factors determining the salaries of corporate lawyers in the lines below:
Educational qualifications and relevant training
The minimum requirement for a person to step into the profession of corporate lawyer pertains to three years of formal law schooling leading to a bachelor’s degree in law. In addition to this, corporate law students also need to undertake courses of insurance law, various kinds of tax laws, and other corporate laws.
It is quite a demanding endeavor that does not end up here. Candidates willing to pursue corporate law professionally also need to choose elective subjects from relevant courses like trade regulations, trial advocacy, commercial transactions, creditor’s rights, and so forth.
Yet all this does not enable a person to qualify for significant corporate lawyer salary, they still have to begin their journey by taking admission to a bar council body. It happens to be a structured organization of lawyers in any particular state, which works under slightly different laws varying state to state. On top of all this, admission to bar council is not possible without passing an entrance examination held mandatory by law.
The year 2009 witnessed doctor’s degree holder corporate lawyers to be earning salaries as hefty as US $ 150,000 to US $ 170,000 per year, followed by the corporate lawyer salary of about US $ 75,000 to US $ 100,000 for professionals with only simple bachelor’s degree in law.
Now amongst the corporate lawyers, lawyers with specialties in real estate discipline pocketed the highest range of salary extending up to US $ 175,000 per year on average. On the other hand, litigation and appeals specialties led to a maximum salary range of up to US $ 130,000 per year on average.
Relevant work experiences
As with any other occupation, there is nothing that seconds the relevant work experience in this field as well. Corporate law professionals with their work experiences ranging from one to five years in the relevant field can bag up to salaries ranging between US $ 70,000 to US $ 120,000 every year. This amount of corporate lawyer salary increases up to US $ 95,000 to as high as US $ 150,000 each year with work experience lying between 5 to 10 years in the same field. Not surprisingly, corporate lawyers enjoying work experience higher than 10 years can easily claim up to US $ 170,000 every single year.
Employer Status
Another significantly important factor in determination of corporate lawyer salary is the repute and status of the employer. There are law firms enjoying exalted legacy behind them. Corporate lawyers privileged to be their part enjoy salaries quite high. Statistics tell us that lawyers enjoying even higher remunerations are the ones into the individual practice, and their salary range extends up to US $ 165,000 per Anum. On the other hand, lawyers employed by hospitals get the minimum salary which flexes up to US $ 140,000 per anum on average.
What is more interesting about corporate lawyer salary is the fact that some firms offer added benefits to people employed with them as corporate lawyers. These may include paid annual vacations and added performance based bonuses.
To surmise, it can be surely said that corporate lawyer salary is amongst the top rated salaries in the whole country. So, people who want to pursue highly rewarding careers should jump into corporate law stream and enjoy the associated benefits, but not without the hard work needed for it.