Post job

General counsel vs legal consultant

The differences between general counsels and legal consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a general counsel and a legal consultant. Additionally, a general counsel has an average salary of $125,248, which is higher than the $75,024 average annual salary of a legal consultant.

The top three skills for a general counsel include litigation, legal issues and legal advice. The most important skills for a legal consultant are litigation, regulatory compliance, and legal research.

General counsel vs legal consultant overview

General CounselLegal Consultant
Yearly salary$125,248$75,024
Hourly rate$60.22$36.07
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs50,27516,118
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 45%Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age4646
Years of experience44

What does a general counsel do?

A general counsel, also called a chief legal officer, is the chief lawyer in the legal department of an organization. The counsel represents an enterprise for any pending legal matters. They work proactively to lessen possible problems associated with legalities and potential risks. They have to monitor practices and the people within the law firm for misconduct. They also perform dominant roles in regulation, ethics, public affairs, and legislation. It is common for them to serve as the public spokesperson of the company during the publicity of legal matters.

What does a legal consultant do?

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.

General counsel vs legal consultant salary

General counsels and legal consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

General CounselLegal Consultant
Average salary$125,248$75,024
Salary rangeBetween $75,000 And $208,000Between $40,000 And $139,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAWashington, DC
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew York
Best paying companyMartin's Point Health CareAlston & Bird
Best paying industryFinanceProfessional

Differences between general counsel and legal consultant education

There are a few differences between a general counsel and a legal consultant in terms of educational background:

General CounselLegal Consultant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 45%Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common majorLawLaw
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

General counsel vs legal consultant demographics

Here are the differences between general counsels' and legal consultants' demographics:

General CounselLegal Consultant
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 61.5% Female, 38.5%Male, 49.0% Female, 51.0%
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, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between general counsel and legal consultant duties and responsibilities

General counsel example responsibilities.

  • Assist in liaising with insurance authorities, responding to regulatory inquiries and managing relationship with region from legal and business perspective.
  • Review subpoenas and attorney letters for compliance with HIPAA and institutional guidelines and coordinate non-party depositions as needed.
  • Prepare dozens of complex commercial transactions in connection to equity and debt securities offerings.
  • Handle regulatory, compliance, licensing, and registration matters for securities broker- dealer and register investment adviser.
  • Supervise commercial litigation, arbitration and claims, including case strategy, pleadings preparation, hearings, depositions and settlement negotiations.
  • Supervise and train unit charge with securing patient medical records, ensuring compliance with Medicare and HIPAA regulations and accreditation standards.
  • Show more

Legal consultant example responsibilities.

  • Manage day-to-day legal affairs of NYSE list airline.
  • Experience includes analysis and advice regarding claims relate to exotic securities agreements.
  • Represent individual and institutional clients in all aspects of commercial and residential real estate acquisition, financing and leasing and foreclosure.
  • Audit key financial and claim-relate regulatory processes including Medicare fraud.
  • Conduct discovery: documents productions, interrogatories, witness depositions.
  • Demonstrate expertise in preparing documents and discovery responses relate to interrogatories, request for admissions, and request for production.

General counsel vs legal consultant skills

Common general counsel skills
  • Litigation, 12%
  • Legal Issues, 8%
  • Legal Advice, 8%
  • Intellectual Property, 5%
  • Risk Management, 4%
  • Ethics, 4%
Common legal consultant skills
  • Litigation, 16%
  • Regulatory Compliance, 9%
  • Legal Research, 8%
  • Financial Statements, 5%
  • Client Relationships, 5%
  • Legal Issues, 5%