The primary mandate of a Corporate Lawyer, whether working in an international law firm advising corporate giants on multibillion-dollar mergers and acquisitions or facilitating a health-tech start-up with contract negotiations, is to counsel organizations whether large or small, on their legal rights, responsibilities, and regulations.
Corporate law, often known as company law, is a vast practice area that is important to law firms and in-house legal departments alike. It is a practice area that deals with the rules and regulations that govern business processes and transactions including mergers, acquisitions, equity investments, and restructuring, among other things. When a corporation hires a corporate lawyer, the lawyer represents the corporation as a whole, rather than its shareholders or employees, which might be a difficult notion to understand until one realizes that a business is treated the same way as a person in the eyes of the law. The law considers a company as a separate legal entity or "person" from its owners and shareholders. While taking on other forms of employment, corporate lawyers ensure that businesses comply with all laws, rules, and regulations.
Contrary to common assumption, most corporate lawyers seldom set foot in a courtroom, meaning they spend most of their time advising and assisting a company in avoiding litigation. The majority of Corporate Lawyers' job is "transactional" in nature.
Corporate lawyers are frequently employed by big or mid-sized law firms with corporate law departments and most of whom specialize in practice areas, such as general corporate, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, or securities, some of which have been discussed in detail below:
The general corporate practice encompasses all aspects of a company's life cycle, from entering strategy through incorporation and structuring, contracts and regulatory compliance, to corporate governance and transparency and accountability measures. The goal is not just on ensuring that the businesses are legally compliant, but also on anticipating future risk areas and provision of timely assistance and advice.
Lawyers, company secretaries, and compliance specialists work in General Corporate practice to guarantee that businesses comply with all legal and commercial requisites. The corporate practice provides assistance on the following:
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Commercial advice in the area of general corporate including information on the Companies Act, SEBI rules, foreign exchange management legislation, legal metrology laws, and BIS rules and regulations;
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Compliance audits and gap analysis;
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Outbound and inbound investments including joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions;
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Forming legally viable structures, conducting due diligence, creating and negotiating transaction documentation, and assisting in closing necessary compliances are all part of private equity transactions;
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Interpretation of Policies;
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Establishing the business entity;
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Drafting of various contracts and agreements;
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Business restructuring;
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Statutory and regulatory compliances.
General Corporate practice is also involved in helping customers with a wide range of commercial contracts, including employment contracts, sales and purchase agreements, intercompany agreements, licensing agreements, franchise agreements, and so on. To assist industry leaders and regulators, this profession also includes policy advice and lobbying.
- Alternate Dispute Resolution
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is generally classified into at least four types: negotiation, mediation, collaborative law, and arbitration. Sometimes, conciliation is included as a fifth category, but for simplicity may be regarded as a form of mediation. Arbitration and mediation typically bring disputes to resolution without appeals or other prolonged judicial proceedings. There are occasions, however, where judicial challenges are imposed to address issues relating to the scope and enforceability of the dispute resolution process. In addition, there are other cases where collateral or appellate litigation inevitably occurs, whether justified or not. The alternate dispute resolution practice of a law firm usually includes:
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Choosing the appropriate ADR method.
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Counselling regarding the ADR clause in the contract agreement.
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Choice of law and seat of arbitration in case of international arbitration.
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Appointment of mediator, conciliator or arbitrator.
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Advising and representing clients from the commencement of arbitration until the final hearing of the matter
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Seeking interim measures of protection from courts and arbitral tribunals
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Assisting in enforcing arbitral awards and taking recourse against awards
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is a component of corporate law that deals with corporations or businesses that acquire/buy and/or merge with one other other corporations or businesses. M&A transactions are among the most complicated and crucial events in a company's expansion policy, with both internal as well as external ramifications.
M&A lawyers help their clients pick the right financing for mergers and acquisitions, as well as provide guidance on the drafting, reviewing, negotiation, and execution and the due diligence of contracts relating to the sale of business assets. Large and medium-sized businesses do the vast majority of M&A activities. Buying and selling public companies is a common emphasis for large organizations. Private company mergers and acquisitions can be complex, especially when partnerships are involved. These are the largest and most complicated transactions, which are frequently cross-border and may entail cash and/or equity considerations. This practice area includes the following transactions:
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Acquisitions and divestitures – of shares, assets, and enterprises (by private, public, and publicly traded companies);
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Mergers, demergers, and amalgamations; schemes of arrangement, mergers, demergers, and amalgamations;
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Management buy-outs and leveraged buy-outs;
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Distressed asset sales and purchases;
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Capital and debt restructuring, as well as stock buybacks and capital reductions, are all examples of restructurings.
- Private Equity and Venture Capital
Private equity and Venture Capital is a branch of corporate law in which lawyers represent investors, sponsors, and managers of public and private pension plans, broker-dealers, investment advisers, custodians, and other financial industry service providers across the entire investment spectrum, with an emphasis on public and private debt, equity, and other investment options and investment vehicles, as well as related investment transactions, trajectories and pathways. Private Equity and Venture Capital practice include assisting in:
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Compliance with Takeover Regulations and Insider Trading Regulations through investment arrangements;
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Onshore and offshore fund structure and creation in India and abroad, as well as tax-efficient investment alternatives in India;
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Fund representation, either individually or as syndicate members;
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Drafting regulatory approval applications and dealing with compliance with regulatory bodies, such as SEBI / RBI;
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Documentation for fundraising;
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Prospective investee firms and prospects are subjected to due diligence.
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Negotiations from the term sheet stage through the close;
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Downstream investments;
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Guidance on portfolio businesses' continuing operations;
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Exit strategies and put them into action;
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Formation and structure of advisory and asset management firms;
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Advising investee firms on matters pertaining to venture capital and private equity investment;
Banking and finance is a booming industry that intersects with a variety of sectors and overlaps with a variety of other professional areas both regionally and globally. Structured finance, securitization, project financing, promoter funding/loan against shares, syndicated lending, consortium lending, bonds, debentures, and commercial papers are all specific practice areas for banking and finance lawyers. Their role involves negotiating and documenting the contractual connection between lenders and borrowers, as well as guaranteeing that the terms of loan agreements represent their clients' best legal and economic interests.
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Corporate Debt - bilateral and syndicated rupee and foreign currency credit for capital expenditure, working capital, and general corporate objectives.
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Project Finance - roads, ports, airports, railways, conventional electricity, wind and solar power, and oil and gas are just a few of the Infrastructure & Energy industries where project finance is available.
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Acquisition And Leveraged Financing - employing senior secured, mezzanine, and subordinated loan structures for domestic and cross-border acquisitions and leveraged agreements.
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Asset Finance - for the purchase of equipment, ships, planes, and helicopters, as well as the establishment of security on such assets with Indian regulatory agencies.
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Real Estate Finance - is used to fund the purchase of real estate properties and projects, as well as the building of residential and commercial projects, as well as lease rental discounting and refinancing.
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Trade Finance - buyer's credit, supplier's credit, short- and long-term loans against exports, pre- and post-shipment credit, and bill discounting.
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Securitization - both traditional and asset-backed, as well as the establishment of securitisation trusts, the issuance of security receipts, and the issuance of securitized debt instruments
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Debt Capital Markets - debentures, foreign currency bonds, commercial paper, masala bonds, bank, and corporate MTN programmes, and other privately placed debt instruments.
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Corporate Debt Restructuring And Insolvency - asset reconstruction, schemes of arrangement, and actions under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
White Collar Practice
The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crimes committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The White Collar practice in law firms defends businesses, senior executives, public officials and other individuals in a wide range of investigations and prosecutions. A typical white-collar practice in a law firm usually includes the following:
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Corporate Finance.
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Collecting, preserving, certifying and analysing evidence to help uncover facts and identify persons involved.
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Examining and establishing compliance policies.
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Assisting Indian companies to customize their anti-corruption and bribery policy to suit Indian and International law.
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Conducting training and awareness programs.
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Detection, incident management and risk mitigation.
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Liaising with internal and external agencies to provide end-to-end management of breach of security and fraud incidents.
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Liaising with internal and external agencies to strategically mitigate damage to reputation and unwarranted publicity.
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Structuring an organisation’s response to an incident.
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Implementing processes to handle future incidents in-house.
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Litigation support in criminal and civil proceedings.
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Representing in internal investigations and criminal and enforcement matters initiated by the government.
Corporate Lawyers in the Asset Management Practice assist institutional alternative asset managers, smaller first-time sponsors and fund of funds, institutional investors, development finance institutions (DFIs), sovereign and pension funds, private banking businesses, government and corporate institutions, family offices, and placement agents with a full range of legal services.
The following are some of the areas where Corporate Lawyers work in Asset Management practice:
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Fund formations span all major asset classes and encompass retail and alternative investment fund formats.
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Drafting and negotiating fund investments, IMAs, custody, and prime brokerage agreements are all part of investment management.
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Regulatory reform – establishing compliance programs for asset managers operating in the United Kingdom, the European Union, the United States, and Asia-Pacific.
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Asset managers, underlying assets, and money transfers are all part of corporate and finance transactions in private equity, debt, real estate, and infrastructure.
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Working with lenders, borrowers, and sponsors at all levels of the capital system is what private credit is all about.
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Using the entire spectrum of solutions and international possibilities accessible to sophisticated investors for distressed investments and restructuring.
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Consultations with industry — working with individual clients or trade associations to successfully advocate their interests before regulators and legislators.
Conclusion
In a corporation, the corporate lawyer serves a variety of important roles. A corporate lawyer's responsibilities include ensuring corporate housekeeping (housekeeping typically refers to documents that involve the day-to-day operations and regular activities of the corporation), reviewing and evaluating contracts and documents, providing advisory and support to the company's senior leadership, and rendering views and interpretations of relevant court judgements.
A corporate lawyer helps businesses comply with rules and regulations, but that is only the beginning. In reality, everyone starting a business might profit from the services of a corporate lawyer. One of the main reasons behind this is that a corporate lawyer can help you build and plan your business for prosperity, even if you do not choose a corporation as your business structure. That being said, the job profile of a corporate lawyer is equal parts hectic as well as diverse, and one has to have a challenge-loving mindset in order to excel in this field.
