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What is the difference between corporate counsel and general counsel?

By Zippia Team - Jan. 22, 2022

The difference between corporate counsel and general counsel comes down to the scope and responsibilities of the job.

General counsel, for example, is typically the title given to the highest-ranking in-house lawyer within a legal department, and that person is usually a c-suite executive like the COO or CFO of an organization. Corporate counsel, on the other hand, is usually just a job title within a legal department.

While law departments don't all follow the same pattern, you typically see titles along the lines of:

  • Corporate counsel (senior associate/junior partner)

  • Senior counsel (Ten+ years out, but not in a specific leadership role)

  • Associate general counsel (the equivalent of a senior partner or team or practice group leader)

  • General counsel (managing partner of the law department; c-suite executive)

You may also see titles like "assistant general counsel (usually between senior counsel and associate general counsel and used for an experienced lawyer, particularly with a specialty, who may not have a full-blown leadership role) or Deputy General Counsel (a capo de capos, so to speak - basically somewhere between Associate General Counsel and General Counsel, often the heir apparent to the General Counsel role).

What is the difference between corporate counsel and general counsel?

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