Power

Besides a look of awe from your in-laws, saying you're a corporate lawyer has few power advantages outside specific work contexts. Instead, the power of corporate lawyering comes from developing the ability to negotiate.

Although you'll probably have to work for several years before a senior partner lets you participate in the negotiation over the terms of a contract, as opposed to just helping draft it in a busy office, you'll find a new set of skills emerge over time that will help you get to "yes," whether it's buying a house or asking a police officer to let you off with a warning.

You might even become so good that you negotiate for a place on your company's board of directors. How you handle the ensuing windmill high-five hurricane is up to you.