It's fair to say that everyone knows 'law' describes the sum total of rules and regulations that citizens and companies must follow. Likewise, who could fail to define business and commerce? But could anyone define business law?
Everyone knows what a corporate lawyer is; they're the type of attorney who defends companies in court. Their offices are often located on the campus or building that houses the company's upper management team. When somebody says they practise corporate law, people may jump right to the type of representation a corporation like Facebook might contract with.
But many draw a blank when it comes to business lawyers; even a Google query returns a list of Australian corporate lawyers instead of business lawyers.
Clearly, there's a knowledge gap on this subject. Read on to find out how we filled it.
What Is Business Law v Corporate Law?
The concepts 'corporation' and 'business' describe are close cousins but they have different meanings from a lawyer's perspective. For one, their training and experience are not the same, nor do they always handle the same legal matters. For instance, a corporate lawyer might help set up another corporate branch or negotiate international trade rights.
They tend to work for major corporations, hence their designation. A corporate law office may have lawyers on staff who specialise in international law, environmental law, rights litigation and compliance with national, state and local laws. Their offices may be within the corporate facilities or they might operate out of a law firm apart from the company.
By contrast, business lawyers don't need to specialise in a particular area of law. Their scope of work is more general; they address anything businesses needs legal help or advice on. They might write employment contracts and review other contracts, such as those negotiated for commercial rights. They may team up with their clients' accounting departments to lower tax burdens.
If a business wants to go public, the business lawyer might draft their Initial Public Offering (IPO). Should a business have grounds to investigate intellectual property theft, copyright or trademark infringement, the business lawyer has the knowledge for the task. And if a business' employment practices come into question, the business lawyer can help resolve them.
Still, these two types of lawyers have some duties in common. Corporate and business lawyers draft and enforce contracts. They file lawsuits and represent their clients in court. They advise management on the rules and requirements every corporation or business must follow.
Now, with this knowledge of "What is business law?", let's discover why and how to become a business lawyer.
Why Study Business Law?
Rules and regulations underpin every aspect of civilised society, including business. That alone makes studying business law worthwhile but current events make this major even more pertinent. Ever since technology made widespread media file download possible, worldwide web entities have been embroiled in intellectual property and copyright disputes.
Napster, the peer-to-peer filesharing application, was an early indicator of the trouble ahead.
The platform launched in June 1999, allowing subscribers to upload music files in MP3 format with no regard to whose music it was. The metal band Metallica entered the fray early, filing a lawsuit against Napster for copyright infringement and racketeering. Other artists soon joined in, ultimately resulting in the platform shutting down a mere two years after its launch.
Napster's exploits, during the time some call the internet's Wild West era, are small potatoes compared to today's intellectual property incursions. Thirty years worth of web-based intellectual property has enabled dramatic leaps forward in machine learning.
We hail these advances for their possibilities but lawyers of all types, including business lawyers are working overtime to uphold content creators' rights under the law.
We could give many more current-event reasons why now is the right time for students to set their sights on education in business law. Labour rights and the rise of the gig economy, for instance. Or maybe we could point to businesses' penchant for bending regulations in their favour; that's another area business lawyers' skills and knowledge apply. We gave even more reasons to study business law in a related article.
Business Law Degrees
In Australia and other English-speaking countries, a Bachelor of Laws degree is called an LLB. Many misinterpret that acronym to stand for Bachelor of Legal Letters because of the two Ls. But they stand for the plural form of 'Law' in Latin - Legum Baccalaureus.
Four years of undergraduate study will earn you an LLB, after which you may proceed through the steps to become a business lawyer. We'll go over requirements for each phase of your development in the next section. Now, let's talk about the structure of a law education. It's a bit different from other any other major you might work your way through.
A typical major would see students progress through Bachelor and Master, postgraduate and Doctorate of Philosophy - a PhD. Majoring in law affords you first an LLB, but then, students strive for their Juris Doctor (JD).
Practising lawyers often return to university to earn their Master of Laws (LLM) once they're established in their careers.
Australian Law Societies provide several pathways to a career in law. Students who have no stomach for university may take Vocational Education and Training in Law courses instead of earning a bachelor degree from a university. Your local Technical and Further Education (TAFE) centres may offer these courses.
After successful course completion, students who go this route must still earn their JD before being certified to practise law.
Australia's third pathway to a law career calls for the candidate to have knowledge and experience working in law. A paralegal with, say, five years' experience may take an exam through the Law Society in their state or territory. Passing marks gives them license to pursue their JD education and admission to the legal field.
International students may also study law in Australia. If they've earned their bachelor in their home country, they may transfer to an Australian university to earn their JD, provided their degree is recognised in Australia.
No matter the pathway you choose for your law career, you must make sure that your course requirements meet your territory/state's Law Society requirements.
Becoming a Business Lawyer
Like many other career fields, becoming lawyer isn't a simple matter of university study and off to work you go. Once finished with school, you will spend a year in supervised legal training. Your state/territory's Law Society may also require you to take a course and sit an exam called the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice. This stage of your development as a lawyer is called Practical Legal Training (PLT).
PLT is required for anyone to become certified to practise law in Australia, even international students. But as with every other step to becoming a practising lawyer, international students must first verify that the state/territory's Law Society will accept their credentials. Particularly if they were earned abroad.
The formal PLT stage officially lasts one year but Law Societies allow up to five years for candidates to apply for their practising certificate. Between school and practical training, students pick up a lot of knowledge and skills but they need time to master them. And that relatively short pathway isn't nearly long enough to ensure full command of practising law.
Applying for a practising certificate isn't hard but it demands a lot of supporting documentation. You will have to provide school transcripts and explanations for any student conduct reports. If you have debts, or unpaid fines or school fees, you must justify them. And you'll have to provide character references and disclose any issues that could impact your standing as a legal professional.
Simply putting your certification package together and submitting it doesn't guarantee acceptance. You may be conditionally accepted or rejected with the chance to reapply at a later date. The worst-case scenario is being rejected outright and the best possible outcome is acceptance.
Once accepted, you must choose your ceremony date from those provided by your Law Society. Some Law Societies require candidates to have representation while others allow candidates to 'move' their admission themselves. Be sure to read all materials your Law Society provides you so you'll know your rights and follow all the necessary steps for certification.
After certification, your final hurdle to becoming a full-fledged lawyer is the Practising Certificate. To complete this requirement, you will find employment on your own rather than being placed but this is still a supervised program, similar to PLT.
The minimum requirement for this phase is 18 months but you may spend up to two years honing your skills and growing your knowledge.
Once you and your mentor believe you've gained enough knowledge and experience, you may request that your local Law Society grant you a Certificate. Once granted, you may continue to work with the firm you spent the last two years, apply elsewhere or open your own law office.
The pathway to becoming a business lawyer is long but gratifying, in the end.
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