Corporate Paralegal Duties and Business Law
Business or corporate paralegal duties can encompass a range of different tasks depending on the specialty of the law firm or the nature of the corporation's business. While many paralegals are employed at private law firms that specialize in business matters, some corporate paralegals are also employed in the legal department within corporations.
The paralegal duties for those employed by a corporation will differ from those employed by a law firm, and may depend on how large and how long a corporation has been in business, where the corporation does business, what types of businesses the corporation runs, and many other variables. If it is a start-up, then a paralegal may be completing tasks related to articles of organization, filing initial applications for incorporation, and tasks related to the formation of the business. If the corporation is large and has been around for a while, then tasks may include preparing and taking minutes of quarterly and annual meeting, maintain record of stocks, sending out quarterly financial statements, and other routine corporate administrative tasks.
Along with paralegal duties pertaining to maintaining the corporation as an entity, a paralegal may also have additional tasks related to the specific nature of the business that the corporation runs. For instance, if the company develops products or types of technology, then its corporate paralegal duties may include tasks pertaining to intellectual property developement, non-disclosure agreements, commercial distribution contracts, and related tasks. Also, if the company is large with its own legal department, then there is a good chance that its paralegals will be involved with litigation duties as well.
Corporate paralegals are one of the higher paid types of paralegals in the industry. A corporation that does a lot of business in the U.S. and abroad may employ a very large legal department that includes several paralegals, paralegal supervisors, and several attorneys. The median salary for an experienced corporate paralegal, according to PayScale.com, is about $65,000/year. An experienced paralegal would be an individual with 2-7 years of experience as a paralegal in a corporate or business environment.
Larger corporations will nearly always request that potential paralegals have a few years of experience. Depending on the nature of the business, they may also prefer specific experience, such as SEC filings or a work background including intellectual property matters. Along with some extensive experience, corporations also prefer, and may require, that their paralegals have a 4-year degree and be a certified or registered paralegal.
Employment at a private law firm will likely offer a paralegal a wide range of duties to assist in corporations of all sizes and in all a varieties of business matters.
Here is a partial list of corporate paralegal duties; some may be relevant to only certain types of corporations:
- Maintain calendar for quarterly or annual meetings
- Draft resolutions, amendments, notices of securities exemptions, dissolution of a corporation
- Prepare mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, consolidations
- Prepare corporation tax returns
- Issue company shares, maintain stock ledger, obtain stock certificates
- Research legal precedences
- Preparing notices of incorporation
- Assist with preparation of proxy statements
- Prepare Securities and Exchange Commission filings
- Research and analyze legal statutes
- Maintain data on international entities
- Manage business license compliance
- Draft agreements for partnership
- Liaison between legal department, accounting, investor relations, finance, and other departments
- Preparation of agenda and taking minutes of meetings
- Maintain organizational chart
- Manage corporate entity structure
- Assist with shareholder, board of director, committee meetings
- Checking availability and reserving corporate name
- Draft buy/sell agreements, leasing agreements, promissory notes,etc.
- Maintain record of stock transfers, splits, share purchases, liquidations, etc.
- Drafting non-competition agreements
- Subsidiary administration and maintenance
- Process trademark renewals
- Assist with dissolving entities
- Prepare and file documents with the Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, Franchise Tax Board