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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.

Top Ranked Firms



Practice Area Q&A’s

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Amy Wollensack & Calvin McKnight

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

F. Jamal Fulton

Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP

Stephanie Lane & Ibrahim Elshamy

Jones Day

Benjamin Stulberg & Emily Cai

Kirkland & Ellis

Tyler Ambrose

Proskauer Rose LLP

Simon Sharpe & Robert Chiu

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Kimberly Spoerri

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Vanessa Jackson

Kirkland & Ellis

Davin Laskin & Yihsin Wang

Proskauer Rose LLP

Steven R. Burwell

Sidley Austin LLP

William Curtin & Genevieve G. Weiner

Advice from Vault Law

The Top Five General Corporate Law Firms

The Top Five General Corporate Law Firms

By Travis Whitsitt

Practice Area Insights: What We Mean by General Corporate Practice

Practice Area Insights: What We Mean by General Corporate Practice

By Vault Law Editors