CLCorporate Lawyer
CL
Career

Corporate Lawyer

By the numbers
Typical pay
$159,670 / yr
Education to start
Doctoral or professional degree
Future demand
+4.1% by 2034
People in this job
755K
Figures shown for ·closest of 2 O*NET occupations
The work
Watch · day in the life
A day, hour by hour
08:00
Inbox triage

Scan overnight emails; flag urgent client questions and deal deadlines.

08:30
Contract redline

Mark up a vendor agreement clause by clause — every loophole gets caught.

10:00
Deal call

Negotiate acquisition terms with opposing counsel; push back on indemnity language.

11:30
Due diligence review

Dig through a target company's filings to surface hidden liabilities.

13:30
Executive briefing

Tell the CFO exactly what the new securities rule means for the IPO timeline.

14:30
Compliance call

A manager flagged a potential violation — decide whether to escalate now or investigate first.

15:30
Document review

Grind through 200 pages of transaction docs before tomorrow's signing deadline.

18:00
Deal close prep

Finalize closing checklist and send execution copies to all parties.

Things you do
  • Negotiate deal terms so your client gets the best outcome possible.
  • Draft and redline contracts, catching every clause that could backfire.
  • Guide companies through mergers, acquisitions, and major business deals.
  • Advise executives on what the law allows—and what it doesn't.
  • Dig through a target company's records to spot hidden legal risks.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Is this deal risky enough that I need to tell my client to walk away?
  • Does this contract language actually protect us, or just look like it does?
  • Should I flag this compliance issue now, or do more digging first?
  • Is my client asking me to help them, or to help them do something illegal?
  • Do I push back on the other side's terms, or is this the hill worth dying on?
Education Pathways · how you get there
100 in 100 went the college route · 0 in 100 found another way in None, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:
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