Continuing our series of posts on top career paths for economists, today we're looking at possible careers for those who want to work in economic law.

Government legal service

An obvious job path for someone with a background in economic law is working for a government legal service. Lawyers in the legal service work purely for the government, supporting officials in the creation, interpretation, and enforcement of laws and policies. This kind of work can be immensely rewarding as it makes a real practical difference to the operation of the government and hence to the lives of regular people.

Like most government jobs, working in the legal service is not exceptionally well paid. However, the plus side of such a job is its long-term stability, with the potential to work your entire career in the civil service. Benefits such as vacation days and sick pay are generally good too. One thing to remember is that legal service work requires you to advise and work on policies that you may not personally agree with, so this kind of work is suited to someone who can be impartial and work with those of different political beliefs from themselves.

Legal advisor to NGO or company

Rather than working for the government, you could also work as a legal advisor for an NGO or a private company. In order to succeed in this kind of role, you need to be able to explain complex legal issues to non-experts, so it's suited to someone with excellent communication skills who doesn't use too much legalese. If you have strong convictions about social or moral issues, you might enjoy working for an NGO. However, remember that work for an NGO tends to involve long hours and not much in the way of benefits. On the other hand, if you like a fast-paced atmosphere, then working in a large company can be exciting and invigorating, and is usually well paid for legal services.

Suggested Opportunities

Compliance

A specific role within a company that is suited to someone with a background in economic law is compliance. This refers to the job of staying abreast of the latest laws and requirements for companies and making sure that your organisation is following them. This can involve factors like the environment impact of production, risk management for insurance, or the rights and conditions of workers. This work requires careful attention to detail and a patient personality, as there are many details to consider and progress can be slow and incremental. But a good compliance officer can be a major boon to a company, and there are many roles for this kind of work in large international corporations especially.

Mergers & Acquisitions consultant

Another opportunity for those with legal and economic experience is Mergers & Acquisitions. Working either for a specifically M&A consultancy or for a large corporation, consultants assist in the strategic planning and execution of the joining or taking over of one company by another. This work requires a strategic approach and the ability to remember and balance many different factors. Strong interpersonal skills are also helpful when bringing together two different organisations with different styles and approaches. This kind of work tends to be very well paid and is a sector which is likely to continue to grow in the future, making it a solid choice for a career for someone coming out of the economic law.

Deal broker

A sub-type of role within M&A is a deal broker, who matches corporations with targets for acquisition. This is suited to someone who likes to keep abreast of new developments and who has a feeling for which companies are in a position to grow or to become more valuable. It requires someone with strong skills in negotiation and insight, in order to bring together different companies in a successful way.

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