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Associate partner vs staff attorney

The differences between associate partners and staff attorneys 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 staff attorney. Additionally, an associate partner has an average salary of $145,385, which is higher than the $110,028 average annual salary of a staff attorney.

The top three skills for an associate partner include digital transformation, analytics and cloud. The most important skills for a staff attorney are litigation, legal services, and juris.

Associate partner vs staff attorney overview

Associate PartnerStaff Attorney
Yearly salary$145,385$110,028
Hourly rate$69.90$52.90
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs32,40575,402
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Doctoral Degree, 56%
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 staff attorney do?

Staff Attorneys are legal employees who work for a variety of organizations, often as full-time employees. They use their legal expertise to help deal with day-to-day legal issues with which their organization needs regular assistance.

Associate partner vs staff attorney salary

Associate partners and staff attorneys have different pay scales, as shown below.

Associate PartnerStaff Attorney
Average salary$145,385$110,028
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $250,000Between $69,000 And $173,000
Highest paying CityCambridge, MASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateMassachusettsCalifornia
Best paying companyMcKinsey & Company IncNelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
Best paying industryProfessionalProfessional

Differences between associate partner and staff attorney education

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

Associate PartnerStaff Attorney
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Doctoral Degree, 56%
Most common majorBusinessLaw
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaStanford University

Associate partner vs staff attorney demographics

Here are the differences between associate partners' and staff attorneys' demographics:

Associate PartnerStaff Attorney
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 66.4% Female, 33.6%Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5%
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, 5.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 75.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between associate partner and staff attorney 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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Staff attorney example responsibilities.

  • Generate an internal memorandum exploring VAWA and special immigrant juvenile cases that lead to the establishment of a new clinic program.
  • Provide statewide training for attorneys and advocates on education law and also responsible for major impact education litigation and appeals.
  • Create and conduct workshops on e-discovery, privilege, FMLA, ADA, and FLSA
  • Conduct internal FLSA (wage and hour) compliance and re-classification audits for pre-complaint resolution.
  • General practice attorney handling primarily bankruptcy, domestic relations and criminal cases, preparation of wills and trusts and probate.
  • Draft wills, powers of attorney, probate estate administration filings, divorce filings, caregiver contracts, and property deeds.
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Associate partner vs staff attorney skills

Common associate partner skills
  • Digital Transformation, 19%
  • Analytics, 13%
  • Cloud, 9%
  • Portfolio, 9%
  • Account Management, 6%
  • Client Relationships, 5%
Common staff attorney skills
  • Litigation, 17%
  • Legal Services, 8%
  • Juris, 7%
  • Legal Advice, 6%
  • Appeals, 4%
  • Administrative Agencies, 4%