Wednesday, November 12, 2014

A day in the life of a Commercial attorney.

"Law is nothing else but the best reason of wise men applied for ages to the transactions and business of mankind." - Abraham Lincoln
A commercial deals with issues pertaining to business management and transactions. They often practice in law firms on behalf of multiple clients of the firm's commercial transactions department. Some commercial lawyers work for a single corporation and are known as in-house attorneys/counsel. They also might be employed by the government or international agencies. In these positions, they review international business transactions or negotiate trade, employment and other agreements.
A Commercial attorney’s daily tasks depend on his client’s needs and whether he is specialized in a particular area of law, but he could be doing some or all of the following: 
·        Negotiating (not all cases will end up in court)
·        Explaining the law and giving general legal advice 
·        Settling disputes and supervising any agreements
·        Researching and gathering evidence
·        Analyzing legal documents
·        Supervising legal assistants
The career of a commercial lawyer is versatile. It involves reviewing and drafting contracts, business disputes, breach of contract, buying and selling of businesses, business management of Corporations, LLCs, Partnerships, etc and last but not the least, Entertainment law.
Reviewing and drafting contracts- In order to make the terms of contract clear to both the parties from the beginning, it is vital to draft and review the contracts properly. An experienced commercial lawyer can provide useful guidance while drafting contracts and will help you in determining whether accepting a contract is in your best interest. But the main goal in drafting a winner contract agreement document is to avoid all kinds of future disputes.
Disputes- Business disputes arise mostly when there is a disagreement between parties regarding the terms of a contract, or sometimes due to issues pertaining to billing, business practices or other issues.
Merger and acquisition of businesses- The process of merger or acquisition of businesses can be very complex and drawn-out, but the rewards at its end are worth it. Purchasing an existing business means purchasing a pre-existing client base, staff, patents and much more. It is the job of your commercial lawyer to make sure you get the best deal.
Business management Corporations, LLCs and Partnership firms- Corporations, LLCs, Partnerships all have different kinds of management forms. A commercial lawyer has the knowledge of working or each of these organizations as they are all clients for him. Sometimes he deals with the senior business executive (such as the CEO of a company) or sometimes he does overflow work of the general counsel of a largish corporation. Either way, it is his duty to come up with ways in which his clients will benefit the most in each transaction.
Intellectual Property Laws-Intellectual property law blends with entertainment and media law and covers trademarks, copyrights, and it is the job of the commercial lawyer to be well versed with these laws as they often form a part of contract deeds.

Representing a client and advising them on their legal situation is what a lawyer does on a daily basis. From individual cases to whole companies, from court proceedings to disputes behind closed doors, it’s his job to act in his client's best interest. It is ultimately the clients who make the intelligent decisions; it is however, our work as commercial lawyers to make sure that the clients makes an informed decision.

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