What does an attorney do?

Law clerks are employees in a legal firm who handle clerical tasks for the office. They handle the office's official phone lines, answering incoming calls, and making outgoing calls. They also field office correspondence, often receiving incoming mail and distributing them to their addressees. They manage office documents and ensure that they are correctly filed and labeled in their respective storage bins. Law clerks help make office life more comfortable because they make sure that the office is running well. They also manage appointments and office calendars.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an attorney are more likely to require skills like "legal advice," "legal services," "appeals," and "trial preparation." On the other hand, a job as a law clerk requires skills like "legal memos," "pre-trial motions," "family law," and "client intake." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

A lawyer is a legal practitioner who specializes in understanding and interpreting laws and other legal matters. Their responsibilities revolve around providing legal counseling and advice, representing clients in different kinds of court proceedings, conducting research, collecting evidence, and coordinating with various experts. A lawyer must also manage and oversee the performance of assistants, paralegals, and other team members. Furthermore, there are instances when a lawyer must draft or manage documents such as contracts, trusts, deeds, and wills, assisting clients as needed.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that attorney responsibilities requires skills like "appeals," "real estate transactions," "law practice," and "insurance defense." But a lawyer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "real estate," "civil law," "legal support," and "financial institutions."

A Housing Counselor works directly with clients and organizations to support moderate and low-income clients in overcoming barriers to housing and financial stability. They represent the homeowner in interventions and/or mediation proceedings with the mortgage servicer, lender, and/or other stakeholders.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an attorney is likely to be skilled in "law firm," "juris," "legal services," and "appeals," while a typical housing counselor is skilled in "in-house counsel," "social work," "crisis intervention," and "real estate."

A legal consultant uses legal practice knowledge to enhance a law company's efficiency and profitability. Besides advising on the right solutions for customer productivity, marketing and development strategies, legal consultants also actively manage risks by consulting on program and legal-related issues. They help the parent law firm meet its objectives by analyzing problems and developing solutions. Other than negotiating, drafting, and reviewing legal documents, legal consultants also conduct legal research and analyze the right securities, insurance, and retirement plans.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between attorneys and legal consultants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an attorney might have more use for skills like "appeals," "probate," "social security," and "law practice." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of legal consultants require skills like "financial statements," "client relationships," "service agreements," and "confidentiality agreements. "