SKILL ROADMAP 29 · LEGAL CAREER ROADMAPS
Corporate Lawyer
Contract law → Company law → Business basics → Financial literacy → Contract review → Due diligence → Corporate filings → Commercial drafting → Transaction structure → M&A → Private equity and venture capital → Specialisation → Transaction portfolio → Corporate internship → Professional level
Track your progress
- This roadmap has 14 steps, 6 checkpoints and 4 projects.
- Open the interactive version to tick checkpoints and projects. Your progress is saved in your browser.
1 What this path is
Corporate lawyers help businesses form, grow, raise money, buy or merge with other companies and stay compliant. The work is document heavy and detail focused.
2 Who this path may suit
The work involves long hours on documents, close attention to detail, teamwork and understanding business goals.
3 The roadmap, step by step
- Master contract law.
Learn: the Indian Contract Act 1872 beyond exam level.
Practise: with the Contract Drafting Roadmap. - Learn company law.
Learn: the Companies Act 2013, covering company types, directors, share capital, meetings and corporate governance.
Practise: by explaining how a private company issues new shares. - Learn business basics.
Learn: how businesses earn, spend and raise money.
Practise: by reading business news daily for a month. - Build financial literacy.
Learn: to read a balance sheet and a profit and loss statement and understand valuation at a basic level.
Practise: with the annual report of a listed company. - Review contracts.
Learn: to read commercial contracts for risk.
Practise: by reviewing a vendor or service agreement and listing its risks. - Learn due diligence.
Learn: what lawyers check before an investment or acquisition.
Practise: by preparing a mini due diligence report on a listed company using public documents. - Learn corporate filings.
Learn: how company filings work on the MCA portal and how listed companies disclose information to stock exchanges.
Practise: by finding a company's recent filings and disclosures. - Learn commercial drafting.
Learn: non disclosure agreements, term sheets, shareholders' agreements and share purchase agreements.
Practise: by redlining a shareholders' agreement for the investor. - Understand transaction structure.
Learn: how share purchases, asset purchases, mergers and investments are structured, and what approvals they need.
Practise: by mapping the structure of three recent Indian deals from news reports. - Learn M&A.
Learn: the SEBI Takeover Regulations 2011, FEMA 1999 and foreign investment rules, and merger control under the Competition Act 2002.
Practise: by preparing a transaction checklist from signing to closing. - Learn private equity and venture capital.
Learn: how investors invest, protect themselves and exit. See the Startup and Venture Capital roadmap.
Practise: by analysing a sample term sheet. - Specialise.
Learn: one area deeply, such as M&A, capital markets, banking and finance, insolvency or competition. Each has its own roadmap in Section 5.
Practise: with a project from that roadmap. - Build a transaction portfolio.
Learn: to present your transaction work clearly.
Practise: by assembling your due diligence report, redlines and checklists. - Intern at corporate teams.
Learn: how live transactions are run.
Practise: version control, proofreading and meeting deadlines.
4 Your levels and checkpoints
Beginner level
- Explain company structure from an annual report
- Explain what each clause in an agreement does
Intermediate level
- Prepare a due diligence report from public documents
- Redline a shareholders' agreement
Advanced level
- Prepare a transaction checklist
- Explain the approvals needed for a cross border acquisition
Advanced professional level
You run parts of transactions independently and advise clients on structure and risk.
These checklists are for honest self assessment. They are not an official certification.
5 Build these projects
- A due diligence report on a listed company
- A redlined shareholders' agreement
- A transaction checklist
- A deal tracker of recent Indian transactions
6 Internship direction
Look for corporate law firms and company legal teams. Before applying, be comfortable with contract review and basic company law, and prepare a due diligence report or redline as your sample. Target firms or teams in the practice area you want. During the internship, learn transaction management and professional habits. Many firms hire through internships that may lead to pre placement offers, though no internship guarantees one.
7 Portfolio evidence
Due diligence report, redlines, checklists and research notes.
8 Common mistakes
- Treating contract law as too basic
- Learning law without learning business
- Careless formatting and proofreading
9 Go deeper
Legal Drafting Guidebook · Legal Research Guidebook. For due diligence tools and their limits · see the AI Legal Hub