Joel Andrew ’16 began spending time on weekends in the mailroom of CD Baby now, as General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs, he wields considerable influence in the alternative music community. The entertainment industry is particularly rich in opportunities to pursue or create a career in business law. David Howitt ’94 of the Meriwether Group, tried cases for the District Attorney’s Office of Multnomah County and then worked for a large law firm before creating a venue for his entrepreneurial passions and personal vision. Elizabeth Schmitt ’18 prosecuted felony cases with the Maricopa County (Arizona) Attorney’s Office before joining the Arizona Corporation Commission, where she enforces investment and securities laws. Some graduates have taken jobs in order to develop essential skills with an eye to careers involving business.
Working at large firms affords attorneys early in their careers the chance to explore areas of practice before deciding whether to specialize. Laura works as a transactional attorney, while Holly is a commercial litigator. Cases in point include Laura Warf ’12 and Holly Martinez ’19, both of whom accepted offers out of law school from large Portland law firms. Judging by the successful careers of a number of Lewis & Clark Law School graduates, the key requisites to practicing business law are preparation, creativity, imagination, and a willingness to lead change. Given the extent to which commerce underwrites modern life, it is simply impossible to overrate the importance of a business law education to aspiring attorneys. It is hard, in fact, to find a line of work where a business lawyer cannot make a career. Almost every variety of legal practice has a business component, whether it is family law where assets are split and allotted, or public interest law where attorneys grapple with the tax code. But beyond this essential yet basic division lie myriad possibilities. This is true for a range of business attorneys in areas such as international trade, bankruptcy and restructuring, patents and copyrights, and corporate and partnership taxation.
There are jobs suitable to every temperament and disposition as in other areas of practice, litigators generally spend much of their time taking depositions and arguing cases in court, while transactional attorneys draft contracts and facilitate deals. Careers in business law are as varied as the average gathering of law students.
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