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With the need for stronger compliance and governance these days, the need for legal personnel in companies is increasing.For those who want to advance their career in corporate law, or those who are just starting to consider a legal career path, we will explain typical career paths and required skills in corporate law.
Career development as a legal professional
Legal knowledge alone is not enough to build a career in corporate law.Legal work is wide-ranging and requires a variety of abilities.The skills required will vary depending on what career path you want.
legal career path
We will explain the ``specialist'' and ``generalist'' career paths that can be considered as general legal career paths.
legal specialist
One path is to aim to become a legal specialist who specializes in a specific field.Because of their high skills and extensive knowledge, there are many opportunities for them to play an active role, and they will likely become a very important presence in the workplace.The main areas include contract law, intellectual property law, and institutional law.Contract law requires a deep understanding of English contract processing and specific industries, while intellectual property requires specialized knowledge and qualifications in areas such as copyright and patents.In the case of institutional legal affairs, in order to perform secretarial duties such as shareholder meetings and board of directors meetings, it is necessary to understand procedures in accordance with laws and regulations and customs specific to a company.
legal generalist
Legal generalists have a wide range of knowledge and experience in management departments such as corporate planning, general affairs, and human resources, and are active in positions closer to management.The closer you are to management, the more opportunities you have to ask for opinions and the more discretion you have as a legal officer. There are also career plans that aim to become a CLO (Chief Legal Officer).While it is easy to feel that your work is connected to the company's growth and business promotion, your career path will change depending on the company you work for, so you need to be discerning.
Typical legal career steps
We will explain general career steps in corporate law.
Aiming for a managerial position in the legal department
Aiming to become a manager or manager is one of the career steps in corporate law.To achieve this, specialized knowledge and practical experience in matters such as contracts, compliance, and dispute handling are essential.Generally, it is possible to move up to a managerial position in about 10 years, but since the number of positions is limited, it is necessary to form a career plan with consideration to changing jobs.If you change jobs to a company that is establishing a new legal department, you can expect to gain valuable experience in starting up an organization.
Move to the legal department of a major or foreign-affiliated company
High English proficiency and knowledge of the laws of the relevant countries are required, but it is also an effective career step to change jobs to a company that is expanding globally, such as a major or foreign company.You will be able to gain experience in international legal affairs, which you cannot get at Japanese companies operating domestically, and the salary level is high, so you may be able to expect an increase in your annual income.
Change job to a law firm that handles corporate legal affairs
If you can obtain qualifications as a lawyer or judicial scrivener while working in corporate law, you can consider the career step of changing to a law firm.Although both are difficult qualifications, they are extremely useful for building a career in corporate law.
Change job to a legal consulting company
Another career step is to work at a legal consulting firm that provides a wide range of services such as consulting on company management, risk research, and participation in board meetings.
Aiming to become a consulting lawyer
If you are qualified as a lawyer, you can also develop a career as a consulting lawyer, a partner who supports companies from a legal perspective.She will be in charge of drafting and checking contracts, preparing documents such as certified mail, and providing legal consultation and litigation.Although they are generally separate and independent from the company, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of cases in which in-house lawyers take on the role of corporate lawyers.
Skills required as a legal department member
We will explain the skills and qualities that are especially important when aiming to advance your career in corporate law.
legal expertise
Legal expertise is a job that involves managing all aspects of legal work, so legal expertise is essential.Furthermore, having a particularly deep understanding of the laws related to the industry to which the company belongs is an important skill when conducting corporate legal affairs.
communication ability
Legal work also requires strong communication skills.As we act as an in-house legal consultation desk, we cannot provide accurate advice unless we can obtain the necessary information from the other party, and we also need to negotiate flexibly with the other company in the event of a legal dispute.
investigation skills
Since there are a large number of laws and regulations related to corporate activities, it is a prerequisite to have the ability to read and understand the laws and knowledge of the underlying laws, but also research to find out the laws and precedents that are appropriate for the issues at the time. You will need strength.
Willingness to grow
Legal knowledge does not end with learning.Jobs must change in response to newly enacted laws and frequent revisions.One of the important qualities is the ambition to keep learning, constantly updating the knowledge you have acquired and brushing up on your work.
When building a career in the legal department, it is important to define a career path and hone your skills.
In this way, in order to develop a career in corporate law, it is necessary to continue honing the high level of skills required for both specialists and generalists.For those who are starting to consider a career in corporate law, we recommend the "FRONTEO Legal Link Portal" (FLLP) operated by FRONTEO.
Established in June 2020, "FRONTEO Legal Link Portal" is a Japanese website that connects corporate emergency response personnel, such as corporate legal affairs, intellectual property departments, management departments, and information systems departments, with domestic and international lawyers and experts. The largest platform.You can watch many videos on a variety of topics that are useful in practice, such as litigation response, fraud investigation, scandal response, M&A, crisis management, intellectual property rights, competition law, and personal information protection law.And it's completely free.
Lecturers include lawyers and experts with a wide range of knowledge and a wealth of experience, including those from the top five law firms.It can also be used as a place for in-house legal training, as it can cover a wide range of topics from the basics to recent cases.
In addition to watching the videos posted at your convenience, we also hold many free online seminars, so you can ask questions directly to the instructors.It can also be used as a place to meet new lawyers.
We can also hold custom-made study sessions tailored to your concerns and issues!We also hold free individual study sessions for corporate law and intellectual property personnel who are interested in digital forensics and international litigation.
