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Associate partner vs general counsel

The differences between associate partners and general counsels can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an associate partner and a general counsel. Additionally, an associate partner has an average salary of $145,385, which is higher than the $125,248 average annual salary of a general counsel.

The top three skills for an associate partner include digital transformation, analytics and cloud. The most important skills for a general counsel are litigation, legal issues, and legal advice.

Associate partner vs general counsel overview

Associate PartnerGeneral Counsel
Yearly salary$145,385$125,248
Hourly rate$69.90$60.22
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs32,40550,275
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age4646
Years of experience44

What does an associate partner do?

The job of an associate partner is similar to that of a partner. An associate partner will report to the partner and work to build strong client relationships and understand their concerns. You will typically perform various duties that include handling the partner's daily activities, monitoring the accounting procedures, and maintaining the confidentiality of the client's information. As an associate partner, you also have to advise on corporate governance and business reorganization and conducting assessments of in-house platforms that include evaluating portfolio accounting systems and client delivery.

What does a general counsel do?

A general counsel, also called a chief legal officer, is the chief lawyer in the legal department of an organization. The counsel represents an enterprise for any pending legal matters. They work proactively to lessen possible problems associated with legalities and potential risks. They have to monitor practices and the people within the law firm for misconduct. They also perform dominant roles in regulation, ethics, public affairs, and legislation. It is common for them to serve as the public spokesperson of the company during the publicity of legal matters.

Associate partner vs general counsel salary

Associate partners and general counsels have different pay scales, as shown below.

Associate PartnerGeneral Counsel
Average salary$145,385$125,248
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $250,000Between $75,000 And $208,000
Highest paying CityCambridge, MASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateMassachusettsCalifornia
Best paying companyMcKinsey & Company IncMartin's Point Health Care
Best paying industryProfessionalFinance

Differences between associate partner and general counsel education

There are a few differences between an associate partner and a general counsel in terms of educational background:

Associate PartnerGeneral Counsel
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common majorBusinessLaw
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaStanford University

Associate partner vs general counsel demographics

Here are the differences between associate partners' and general counsels' demographics:

Associate PartnerGeneral Counsel
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 66.4% Female, 33.6%Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between associate partner and general counsel duties and responsibilities

Associate partner example responsibilities.

  • Lead services solution design for a medical image cloud computing solution to manage volume and improve disaster recovery.
  • Plan and manage the logistics around bi weekly team meetings, and bi annual team retreats.
  • Work closely with the CIO and business leads on timelines, documentation standards, and rollout processes.
  • Manage portfolio of projects for a financial institution, including archive messaging, cloud migration, reference data, compliance appl.
  • Lead development of security architecture policies and procedures for IBM security practice.
  • Develop a state-of-the-art content management architecture to manage and share content across multiple departments.
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General counsel example responsibilities.

  • Assist in liaising with insurance authorities, responding to regulatory inquiries and managing relationship with region from legal and business perspective.
  • Review subpoenas and attorney letters for compliance with HIPAA and institutional guidelines and coordinate non-party depositions as needed.
  • Prepare dozens of complex commercial transactions in connection to equity and debt securities offerings.
  • Handle regulatory, compliance, licensing, and registration matters for securities broker- dealer and register investment adviser.
  • Supervise commercial litigation, arbitration and claims, including case strategy, pleadings preparation, hearings, depositions and settlement negotiations.
  • Supervise and train unit charge with securing patient medical records, ensuring compliance with Medicare and HIPAA regulations and accreditation standards.
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Associate partner vs general counsel skills

Common associate partner skills
  • Digital Transformation, 19%
  • Analytics, 13%
  • Cloud, 9%
  • Portfolio, 9%
  • Account Management, 6%
  • Client Relationships, 5%
Common general counsel skills
  • Litigation, 12%
  • Legal Issues, 8%
  • Legal Advice, 8%
  • Intellectual Property, 5%
  • Risk Management, 4%
  • Ethics, 4%