A lawyer is a person who works under the bar council of India. A company secretary has an ACS qualification. He is honoured as a member of the ICSI institute. Company secretaries work for company law. Lawyers work for civil and criminal laws. If a person works as a lawyer, he should cancel his membership with ICSI. Similarly, if a person works as a company secretary, he is restricted to work as a lawyer. Choosing one profession and membership is mandatory in India. LLB is the generic qualification, and the company secretary ship course is a specialised area. The fundamental subject is the same for law and company secretary ship courses.
Chartered accountants provide twenty-one types of services to corporate clients. Company secretaries or corporate lawyers provide thirty types of services to corporate clients. The name of the services are as follows: agribusiness, capital markets and regulations, antitrust, company law, competition and trade, construction and infrastructure, bank finance and regulation, corporate governance, business crimes, corporate organisations and securities, fraud and compliance, cross border transactions, employee benefits and pensions, e-commerce and technology, energy and natural resources, general corporate, immigration, health care industries, insolvency, bankruptcy and restructuring, intellectual property, insurance and reinsurance, joint ventures, life sciences, labour and employment, media, entertainment and sports, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, product liability, real estate, project finance, telecommunications and tax.
What makes the difference between big law firms and small law firms? The size of a big law firm in India is 200 to 500 employees. The size of a mid-level firm is 75 to 150. The size of a small firm is 15 to 50. In foreign countries, the size of a big law firm is 500 to 1000. The small firm engages 50 to 150 employees. The size of a mid-level firm is 200 to 400 employees. The difference among law firms is in the size and the services. Large firms offer complete and specialised services for a big corporate company. Small firms operate with less competitiveness. They work with diversification and friendliness. They offer general consultations. The difference between special and generic services is the difference between big law firms and small law firms. The blog provides details about the advantages of working in a big law firm and a small law firm. It intrigues legal professionals with a positive experience.
Big Law firm advantages:
• Large firms have a big client base. The work is challenging and rewarding.
• Large firms operate in multiple locations. The employees get exposure to many jurisdictions and international law.
• Large law firms have research activities and technical support networks. So, there is learning from the nuances of amendments and cases.
• Large firms provide more than ten types of services and have professionals as specialists. So, there is a brain drain. The professionals from different countries work in a big law firm.
• After getting experience in large firms, the professional gets a wide range of opportunities from the global job market.
• The positions in large law firms are as follows: records clerk, paralegal, legal secretary, staff attorney, accountant, associate attorney, human resource manager, senior associate attorney, information technology manager, and litigation attorney.
Small law firm advantages:
• As per the report from Altman Weil, an advisory firm, the big corporates have shifted their work from big to small firms. More than 31 per cent of the projects are now with small law firms for low prices.
• The client expectation in a large firm and small firm differ. Small firms work harder to nurture the relationship. Communication transforms professionals into good lawyers.
• Lawyers working in small firms work flexibly. The working style is as per the project and client expectations. The work culture will help to handle difficult tasks and learn from experiences.
• The legal team in a small law firm is responsible for litigation, privacy, legal conflict management, regulatory compliance, contract management, and intellectual property.
• The professionals in small law firms take care of legal research, legal file maintenance, document preparation, data management, negotiating strategic transactions, contract management, creating contract templates, and analysing contract risks.
Salary of a lawyer and company secretary:
The salary of a company secretary ranges from four to twenty lakhs. On an average scale, company secretaries are placed with a salary of eight lakhs in India. Company secretaries are corporate lawyers and managerial personnel. They promote growth and increase the net worth of the company. The salary of a lawyer in India ranges from one lakh to eight lakh. The lawyer gets an average salary of 3.5 lakhs per annum. In big companies, the legal department has company secretaries and lawyers. In big companies, the law is an additional degree for company secretaries. Company secretaries understand accounting practices and company law amendments. Lawyers understand domestic and international law.
Final words:
The job of a lawyer and company secretary is inclined to research, writing, communication and analytical skills. Students learning BA-LLB need to undergo 20 weeks of the internship program. ICSI instructs the company secretaries to undergo practical training for twenty-one months. There are domestic and international jobs for a legal professionals. The skills and performance open opportunities for a legal professional. Good company secretaries need a sound knowledge of the law and other finance operations. Professionals with a sound knowledge of legal matters outperform corporate companies and small and large law firms.
