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Vault Law Resource Center

General Corporate

Overview

Broadly speaking, corporate or transactional lawyers advise companies on a variety of transactions—including M&A, financings, and securities—in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. Corporate generalists work across these disciplines and can sometimes act as “outside general counsel.” What a corporate generalist focuses on can depend a lot on their location. In New York, the work leans toward finance and securities work, while in Washington, DC, it tends to be more regulatory. On the West Coast, corporate attorneys often deal with venture capital and the issues affecting emerging companies. While there are certain large firms that encourage their corporate attorneys to have a broad practice, many require them to specialize in only one area. Attorneys who wish to be corporate generalists often look to practice in smaller firms or in smaller, regional offices of large firms where specialization is not required. Corporate generalists often have the most in-house opportunities because they have touched on so many areas.

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Practice Area Q&A’s

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Manuel Silva

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Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP

Jenn Sayles Okorn & Sogoal Salari

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Kirkland & Ellis Tyler Ambrose

Tyler Ambrose

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Mayer Brown LLP

Camila Panama

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Morrison Foerster

Patricia Perez Elias

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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLPJamal Fulton

F. Jamal Fulton

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Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP
Stephanie Lane
Ibrahim Elshamy

Stephanie Lane & Ibrahim Elshamy

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Jones Day
Ben Stulberg
Emily Cai

Benjamin Stulberg & Emily Cai

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Proskauer Rose LLP
Simon Sharpe headshot
Robert Chiu headshot

Simon Sharpe & Robert Chiu

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"As a finance lawyer, the market moves fast, and terms change quickly, so it is critical that you stay on top of these shifts and are able to adapt to the new landscape quickly to ensure that your clients are receiving the best deal execution. I am consistently challenged as a lawyer in Davis Polk’s Finance group and enjoy the opportunities to think creatively in order to solve our clients’ most challenging issues."

— Vanessa Jackson , Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

"Corporate lawyers gain a diverse skill set by working at a large law firm, and those skills can be transferred into different types of career paths. Some lawyers end up going in-house or working at various organizations, such as Fortune 500 companies, banks, nonprofits, and more."

— Yihsin Wang , Kirkland & Ellis

"One of the misconceptions that exists about M&A is that you must be combative to be a good M&A lawyer. My experience has shown that nothing could be further from the truth. Transactions are often done most efficiently when the counselors on opposite sides of the table respect each
other and have a collegial relationship."

— Kimberly Spoerri , Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

"The most challenging, but also the most exhilarating, aspect of restructuring is the
speed with which matters develop. It is the rare case where we will have months to prepare and execute a strategy for a distressed client. We are often called upon to offer comprehensive advice in a matter of days or even hours."

— William Curtin , Sidley Austin LLP

"I like working with our clients, meeting the management teams of acquisition targets, and, if they are acquired, working with them to grow the business. I also value working with so many of my colleagues to achieve successful results for our clients."

— Amy Wollensack , Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

"Capital markets is one of the broader practices in the sense that a typical transaction will involve members of our practice area, but could include lawyers who do mergers & acquisitions, tax, employee benefits, litigation, intellectual property, and other regulatory areas. It is great to work with lawyers from across the firm on a deal or matter."

— Steven R. Burwell , Proskauer Rose LLP

Advice from Vault Law

The Top Five General Corporate Law Firms

The Top Five General Corporate Law Firms

By Travis Whitsitt

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Practice Area Insights: What We Mean by General Corporate Practice

Practice Area Insights: What We Mean by General Corporate Practice

By Vault Law Editors

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