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Associate partner vs legal counsel

The differences between associate partners and legal 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 legal counsel. Additionally, an associate partner has an average salary of $145,385, which is higher than the $132,867 average annual salary of a legal counsel.

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

Associate partner vs legal counsel overview

Associate PartnerLegal Counsel
Yearly salary$145,385$132,867
Hourly rate$69.90$63.88
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs32,40510,337
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 43%
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 legal counsel do?

A Legal Counsel supervises the legal aspects of a business. They give accurate and timely counsel to executives on a variety of legal topics, such as labor law, partnerships, or international ventures.

Associate partner vs legal counsel salary

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

Associate PartnerLegal Counsel
Average salary$145,385$132,867
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $250,000Between $81,000 And $216,000
Highest paying CityCambridge, MASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateMassachusettsCalifornia
Best paying companyMcKinsey & Company IncApple
Best paying industryProfessionalTechnology

Differences between associate partner and legal counsel education

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

Associate PartnerLegal Counsel
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common majorBusinessLaw
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaStanford University

Associate partner vs legal counsel demographics

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

Associate PartnerLegal Counsel
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 66.4% Female, 33.6%Male, 54.2% Female, 45.8%
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, 7.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 75.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between associate partner and legal 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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Legal counsel example responsibilities.

  • Achieve statewide recognition as expert on Medicare and Medicaid.
  • Manage high-risk employee terminations from initial decision through preparation for appeals hearings and any subsequent legal action.
  • Assist in liaising with insurance authorities, responding to regulatory inquiries and managing relationship with region from legal and business perspective.
  • Conduct anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) due diligence on a daily basis.
  • Ensure compliance with federal securities laws, NYSE rules, and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.
  • Draft position statements for EEO and other regulatory claims.
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Associate partner vs legal counsel skills

Common associate partner skills
  • Digital Transformation, 19%
  • Analytics, 13%
  • Cloud, 9%
  • Portfolio, 9%
  • Account Management, 6%
  • Client Relationships, 5%
Common legal counsel skills
  • Legal Advice, 11%
  • Legal Issues, 9%
  • Litigation, 8%
  • Legal Support, 7%
  • Intellectual Property, 5%
  • Legal Risks, 4%