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The differences between corporate attorneys and legal externs can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a corporate attorney and a legal extern. Additionally, a corporate attorney has an average salary of $115,653, which is higher than the $47,238 average annual salary of a legal extern.
The top three skills for a corporate attorney include law firm, litigation and real estate. The most important skills for a legal extern are litigation, legal intern, and legal issues.
| Corporate Attorney | Legal Extern | |
| Yearly salary | $115,653 | $47,238 |
| Hourly rate | $55.60 | $22.71 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 20,893 | 10,986 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A corporate attorney is a corporate lawyer who acts as an agent representing a corporation's legal matters. Corporate attorneys represent the business transactions and operations and help their clients prevent expensive litigation. They advise business enterprises on their legal obligations, responsibilities, and rights. It is part of their job to recommend clients on business structures and provide an evaluation of their ventures. The lawyers are expected to develop strong communication skills, negotiation skills, attention to detail, and analytical skills.
Legal externs are law students who took the opportunity to do on-the-job training at a law firm. Instead of monetary compensation, they receive academic credits. Legal externs primarily engage in job shadowing. They are usually assigned mentors in the law firm, and they would shadow their mentors in their daily routines. Legal externs are exposed to the actual work done by lawyers. Legal externs are involved in cases, providing insights while building a solid case for their client, giving advice to clients, and representing clients under the supervision of the actual lawyers in the firm. They are usually not given administrative or clerical tasks since they are expected to do more tasks directly related to being a lawyer.
Corporate attorneys and legal externs have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Corporate Attorney | Legal Extern | |
| Average salary | $115,653 | $47,238 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $198,000 | Between $23,000 And $93,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton | Jones Day |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a corporate attorney and a legal extern in terms of educational background:
| Corporate Attorney | Legal Extern | |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Law | Law |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between corporate attorneys' and legal externs' demographics:
| Corporate Attorney | Legal Extern | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.9% Female, 42.1% | Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 75.9% 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 Percentage | 10% | 10% |