Some of the skills we found on corporate counsel resumes included "legal issues," "litigation," and "legal advice." We have detailed the most important corporate counsel responsibilities below.
A Corporate Counsel, also known as a corporate lawyer, works for a business or company providing legal advice to the employer. They usually work in the employers main office, but also can travel to participate in meetings, trials, and other legal proceedings.
Here are examples of responsibilities from real corporate counsel resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.
We calculated that 9% of Corporate Counsels are proficient in Legal Issues, Litigation, and Legal Advice. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Corporate Counsels that have these skills listed on their resume here:
Counseled dynamic roster of business clients on comprehensive legal issues related to contract formation, administration, and conflict resolution.
Supervised outside counsel in the management of litigation on a wide variety of cases including regulatory litigation against United States Government.
Provided legal advice to the Investment and Treasury departments regarding contractual matters and insurance company investment regulation.
Researched the viability of industry-specific patent applications and worked closely with research departments to ensure protection of all proprietary Intellectual Property.
Reviewed, revised and negotiated transaction documents and confidentiality agreements and provided all aspects of legal support for investment transactions.
Worked directly with senior level executives on legal risk of business decisions and contract negotiations.
Some of the skills we found on corporate counsel resumes included "legal issues," "litigation," and "legal advice." We have detailed the most important corporate counsel responsibilities below.
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.
In this section, we take a look at the annual salaries of other professions. Take lawyer for example. On average, the lawyers annual salary is $26,707 lower than what corporate counsels make on average every year.
While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both corporate counsels and lawyers positions are skilled in legal issues, litigation, and legal advice.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A corporate counsel responsibility is more likely to require skills like "legal risks," "internal clients," "risk management," and "in-house counsel." Whereas a lawyer requires skills like "law firm," "real estate," "civil law," and "juris." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.
The education levels that lawyers earn is a bit different than that of corporate counsels. In particular, lawyers are 7.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a corporate counsel. Additionally, they're 23.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
An Attorney at Law is responsible for preparing and examining contracts involving leases, licenses, purchases, sales, etc. They advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, or legal rights and obligations.
Next up, we have the student attorney profession to look over. This career brings along a lower average salary when compared to a corporate counsel annual salary. In fact, student attorneys salary difference is $37,330 lower than the salary of corporate counsels per year.
Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Corporate counsels and student attorneys both include similar skills like "legal issues," "legal advice," and "intellectual property" on their resumes.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, corporate counsel responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "litigation," "legal support," "legal risks," and "internal clients." Meanwhile, a student attorney might be skilled in areas such as "legal memoranda," "social security," "domestic violence," and "fact investigation." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On the topic of education, student attorneys earn similar levels of education than corporate counsels. In general, they're 1.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 23.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
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.
The third profession we take a look at is attorney at law. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than corporate counsels. In fact, they make a $34,497 lower salary per year.
While looking through the resumes of several corporate counsels and attorneys at law we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "legal issues," "litigation," and "legal advice," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.
As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from corporate counsels resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "legal support," "legal risks," "internal clients," and "risk management." But a attorney at law might have skills like "law firm," "juris," "trial preparation," and "civil litigation."
Additionally, attorneys at law earn a higher salary in the retail industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $120,546. Additionally, corporate counsels earn an average salary of $155,816 in the technology industry.
Attorneys at law typically study at similar levels compared with corporate counsels. For example, they're 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
Staff attorneys tend to earn a lower pay than corporate counsels by about $32,487 per year.
According to resumes from both corporate counsels and staff attorneys, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "legal issues," "litigation," and "legal advice. "
While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "legal risks," "internal clients," "risk management," and "in-house counsel" are skills that have shown up on corporate counsels resumes. Additionally, staff attorney uses skills like juris, appeals, administrative agencies, and real estate on their resumes.
Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The professional industry tends to pay more for staff attorneys with an average of $113,835. While the highest corporate counsel annual salary comes from the technology industry.
In general, staff attorneys reach similar levels of education when compared to corporate counsels resumes. Staff attorneys are 2.8% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 6.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.
You need a law degree to be a corporate counsel. A corporate counsel, much like a regular lawyer, will need to complete law school. Unlike regular lawyers, they will also need to have an in-depth understanding of corporate and business law.
The difference between corporate counsel and general counsel comes down to the scope and responsibilities of the job.
General counsel, for example, is typically the title given to the highest-ranking in-house lawyer within a legal department, and that person is usually a c-suite executive like the COO or CFO of an organization. Corporate counsel, on the other hand, is usually just a job title within a legal department.