Lawyers and Their Role in Corporations

Hundreds of lawyers work in the legal departments of giant corporations. Small companies also employ attorneys. Overall, the number of lawyers who work for corporations grows each year.

Legal departments


The organization of large corporate law departments is like a pyramid. One lawyer, called the general counsel, heads the department. At the next level, associate general counsels supervise groups of lawyers. Reporting to them are staff lawyers, who handle different kinds of legal work.

Instead of dealing with several clients, corporate lawyers serve only one client-the corporation. Of course, corporate lawyers work with many different people who manage different parts of the business. They need to advise executives about laws related to business proposals, for instance. Federal income tax problems might cause a tax attorney to say no to a vice president's idea to combine companies. More often, this lawyer would say, "Yes; but suggest several plans.

Corporate lawyers practice preventive law. They spend most of their time giving advice so that legal troubles can be avoided. They learn about company problems and research possible solutions. They keep up with current rulings and practices of government agencies that regulate the business.

The working hours of corporate lawyers tend to be more regular than those of lawyers in private practice. Unlike partners in law firms, whose earnings vary according to fees collected, corporate lawyers receive fixed salaries. Bonuses and chances to buy stock are sometimes added.

Like attorneys in private practice, corporate lawyers spend much of their work time in their offices or in the offices of co-workers. Every day brings meetings and memos to write. Frequently, they travel to state or provincial capitals, or to their federal capital, Washington, D.C., or Ottawa, to confer with government officials. Some lawyers employed by U.S. and Canadian corporations work in other countries. One oil company lawyer recently returned to the U.S. after a dozen years abroad. He had moved from London, England, to Geneva, Switzerland, to Beirut, Lebanon, and, finally, to Tehran in Iran.

The lawyers who work for corporations are called "house counsel," or "inside counsel." Most corporations also hire "outside counsel," other lawyers or law firms, for some legal work. In one case, the general counsel of a Detroit automaker quickly hired a Dallas law firm when the company was sued by a consumer there. The consumer claimed the brakes on her new sports car were defective, causing an accident in which she was injured.

Outside lawyers are very often used for courtroom work. They may also be engaged when new stocks or bonds are offered for sale to the public. Outside firms are also often involved when all or part of a company is sold. Many of the largest firms do most of their work for corporations. Often, firms are "retained" to handle all the legal work of a company in a certain area.

Lawyers as managers

Many top corporate executives are lawyers. Lawyers move to these management positions by three routes. First, many individuals who are interested in business attend law school with no plan to do legal work. They study law only because they think legal training will help them in the business world. Second, sometimes corporate lawyers are promoted to management positions after working for some years in the corporate law department. And finally, lawyers in outside firms who have handled the legal problems of client-corporations for a long time may be asked to take executive posts in those corporations.

Lawyers in banking and insurance

Banks and insurance firms are major employers of lawyers. Though they also use outside lawyers, staff attorneys are kept busy. The way legal work is divided between inside and outside lawyers varies greatly from one organization to another.

Large city banks have big law departments. Additional attorneys may also be assigned to each bank division--small loans, trusts, and so on. At present, bank lawyers are working overtime to rewrite loan agreements and other consumer documents for two reasons; 1) to use language that is easier for the average person to understand, and 2) to comply with new disclosure laws.
Government rulings related to both banking and insurance are complicated and ever-changing. Lawyers must keep up with changes and advise worried company managers how best to comply.

In most banks and insurance companies, lawyers can be found in a number of other positions. Administrators who manage estate property have law degrees; so do many of the trust officers of banks.