A corporate lawyer is an attorney who specializes in representing corporations and other business entities in court – usually both in civil as well as criminal cases. Corporate lawyers may work on a freelance basis (and this is common for newcomers to the market), or on a permanent contract for a specific company – in the latter case, they’re usually part of a larger team tasked with representing the company and defending its rights in court. Additionally, a corporate lawyer may serve as a sort of advisor to the company they’re employed at, providing them with useful information on averting any possible illegal activity.
The requirements for a corporate lawyer as opposed to a regular one are slightly higher, and some companies can be very demanding when screening for new candidates for their legal team – usually, a Master’s degree in law is required, and in order to attain permanent employment at a company, a lawyer is usually required to demonstrate a good amount of experience and prior working history.
The average annual salary for corporate lawyers is rather low compared to other attorney types, going between $60,000 – $110,000. This, however, also includes beginners with little to no experience, and it can be rather hard to pinpoint some more accurate figures for the annual salaries of corporate lawyers, as some companies pay their legal teams a lot higher than the average, going up to $200,000. This type of salary, however, understandably comes with stricter requirements towards the candidate’s prior experience.