Law-Forums.org

[sheridan93]

I'm going to be a freshman this fall and, after doing my undergrad and all of that, I want to go to law school and be a corporate lawyer. I want to work for big companies (ex. Coca Cola)

Do these kinda jobs make good money? Or should I invest my time and education in a another field. What other fields (besides medical and business) have jobs that make good money?

[orlondo100]

I'm going to be a freshman this fall and, after doing my undergrad and all of that, I want to go to law school and be a corporate lawyer. I want to work for big companies (ex. Coca Cola)

Do these kinda jobs make good money? Or should I invest my time and education in a another field. What other fields (besides medical and business) have jobs that make good money?

1. corporate lawyers have very little control over which clients they work for.
2. the market for newly-graduated lawyers is very, very depressed.
3. do you have the slightest idea what being a lawyer is like? or a doctor? picking a profession solely because you think it pays well is not going to get you anywhere.

[lifton]

Corporate law means working doing the same thing (ex: M & A) for a bunch of different accounts as part of a law firm. If you want to work directly for a corporation, you would apply for a job as in-house counsel. These are two very, very different things and definitely require different skills and knowledge. Corporate law positions are generally reserved for the top 50% of the class or so at T14 law schools. In-house counsel positions are exceptionally competitive and require about 5-8 years of experience.

I agree that you should focus a little more on learning about the day-to-day job of a lawyer and a little less on your potential salary. If money is important to you, law & business are not good options - the top earners make a lot of money, but the average person doesn't. The top salaried positions out of school are all in engineering.