How to hire a legal adviser

How to hire a legal adviser, step by step

Here's a step-by-step legal adviser hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a legal adviser job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new legal adviser
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a legal adviser, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A legal adviser's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, legal advisers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of legal advisers.

   Type of Legal Adviser	Description	Hourly rate
   Legal Adviser	Lawyers advise and represent individuals, businesses, and government agencies on legal issues and disputes.	$15-47
   Attorney	Generally, an attorney's responsibility is to advise the client with an ongoing lawsuit on the legal procedures and provide strategies to resolve the case as early as possible. An attorney compiles necessary documents or any records for appeal and client's defense... Show more	$33-82
   Attorney At Law	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.	$33-79

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Litigation
   • Legal Advice
   • Legal Research
   • Legal Issues
   • International Law
   • Public Policy
   • Legal Procedures
   • Legal Assistance
   • Legal Support
   • Legal Opinions
   • Intellectual Property
   • Real Estate
   • Criminal Law
   • Legal Services

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Prepare and distribute payroll manage daily office operations and equipment and maintain supplies for office to run effectively.
   • Draft and negotiate business-to-business SaaS contracts, non-disclosure agreements, and vendor agreements for domestic and international software platform transactions.
   • Aid in drafting arbitration reports, discovery requests, and responses to discovery requests.
   • Monitor issues surrounding corruption, cyber-crime and arbitration.
   • Conduct legal analysis of confidential pending international corporate environmental liability litigation.

   More legal adviser duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your legal adviser job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A legal adviser salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a legal adviser in New Mexico may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level legal adviser usually earns less than a senior-level legal adviser. Additionally, a legal adviser with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average legal adviser salary

   $57,190yearly

   $27.50 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level legal adviser salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 31, 2026

   Average legal adviser salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$93,391	$45
   2	New York	$86,310	$42
   3	New Jersey	$84,224	$40
   4	California	$82,713	$40
   5	Massachusetts	$81,917	$39
   6	Virginia	$77,769	$37
   7	Illinois	$67,976	$33
   8	Texas	$64,130	$31
   9	Pennsylvania	$62,877	$30
   10	Indiana	$56,781	$27
   11	Washington	$55,334	$27
   12	Florida	$50,289	$24
   13	Kansas	$47,601	$23
   14	Oklahoma	$41,780	$20

   Average legal adviser salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Nossaman	$220,465	$105.99
   2	Perkins Coie	$187,826	$90.30	1
   3	Norton Rose Fulbright	$183,729	$88.33
   4	Faegre Baker Daniels	$169,244	$81.37	2
   5	Haynes and Boone	$151,381	$72.78	4
   6	WLRK	$143,273	$68.88
   7	Stripe	$116,258	$55.89
   8	Aera Technology	$107,835	$51.84
   9	Gartner	$96,650	$46.47	2
   10	HoneyBook	$83,456	$40.12
   11	Standard Bancshares, Inc	$83,334	$40.06
   12	Clever, Inc.	$80,718	$38.81	2
   13	CIA Inc	$80,250	$38.58
   14	Yieldstreet	$80,241	$38.58
   15	*n/a*	$80,139	$38.53
   16	Cigna	$74,091	$35.62	19
   17	International Center for Not-for-Profit Law	$73,878	$35.52
   18	Human Rights Watch	$71,809	$34.52
   19	IRIS	$69,786	$33.55
   20	University of California-Berkeley	$67,765	$32.58	2

4. Writing a legal adviser job description

   A legal adviser job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a legal adviser job description:

   Legal adviser job description example

   Oxford Biomedica Solutions, LLC (OXB Solutions), the joint venture of Oxford Biomedica plc and Homology Medicines, Inc., is seeking an experienced attorney to join our team as Head of Legal. This person will be primarily responsible for general legal affairs within the company as well as defining and building the OXBS legal function. In addition, this Head of Legal will take on a range of legal work with a focus on contracts and agreements, corporate governance, corporate secretary, and strategic transactions. The Head of Legal is a proven leader and business partner who can build and lead this function within the company. This Head of Legal will be a strategic business-oriented team player and cultural leader for the company. This role will report to the Head of Strategy & Business Operations of OXB Solutions.
   
   • Represent legal as part of Oxford's Senior Management team to help continue to build and drive company strategy, execution, and positive culture.
   
   • Develop best-in-class systems, policies, and processes, required for maximum efficiency and consistency across the legal department.
   
   • Collaborate with all business functions to draft, review, and to negotiate a wide variety of contracts.
   
   • Collaborate with Group Company legal teams to align IP and Corporate legal needs, while primary focus will be on local execution of legal and business strategy.
   
   • Lead the coordination of cross-department training opportunities, facilitate education on best practices, and create department-specific guidelines and policies.
   
   • Assist with the Legal Department's budget and forecasting processes, and monitor the budget to effectively control costs.
   
   • Responsible for all corporate governance and subsidiaries including drafting minutes, consents and resolutions.
   
   • Responsible for preparation and proofing of all Board of Directors materials, and working with stakeholders on agendas.
   
   • Work with team to manage necessary document filings with Secretary of State where businesses are qualified.
   
   • Process Improvement: analyze existing processes for legal and compliance matter management, including allocation of matters to internal and external resources and tracking and follow-up throughout matter life cycle, and work with departmental personnel to develop process improvements that promote cost reductions and other efficiencies.
   • Work closely with Procurement to manage vendor relationships and deliverables.
   
   • Perform day-to-day functions to support the successful operation of the department, and support the objectives and goals of the department and company.
   
   • Manage the Legal Team and the overall legal process of internal and external legal matters including managing of IP, and Compliance and Contracts.
   
   • Work with the Business Development Team on negotiating and executing strategic collaboration and license agreement for in-licensed technology and research and development collaboration agreements, and in interpreting these agreements afterwards.
   
   • Advise the Company on contract interpretation, dispute resolution, IP ownership, litigation, new laws that impact the Company, etc., and clearly articulate risk and provide guidance on a path forward to address potential risks.
   
   • Proactively ensure that the Company conducts business in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
   
   • Provide legal strategy, develop and implement policies and training that ensure the company's compliance with intellectual property laws, and manage prosecution and litigation related risks.
   
   • J.D. and admission to the Patent Bar and to the Massachusetts Bar, required.
   
   • Degree in the life sciences, preferred.
   
   • Biopharmaceutical experience, preferably at least 5-10 years post law school.
   
   • Prior experience contributing to business development activities, including but not limited to in-licensing, out-licensing, and partnering agreements.
   
   • Experience in private practice, and as in-house counsel in a biopharmaceutical company setting.
   
   • Direct legal and contract management experience required, preferably within a legal department in the biopharmaceutical or biotechnology industry.
   
   • Demonstrated critical thinking to make sound and timely decisions.
   
   • Experienced working within an operations function such as Finance, Legal, HR, IT, and Procurement.
   
   • A strategic thinker who sees the big picture and strategic needs of the business first, while ensuring that the organization is fully compliant with the law.
   
   • Capable of recognizing, assessing, and responding to urgent matters with timely, practical, and clear solutions.
   
   • An innovative thinker able to manage and prioritize multiple matters simultaneously and independently.
   
   • A collaborative team player with exceptional interpersonal skills, an excellent work ethic, and sound judgment.
   
   • Able to communicate complicated legal issues to scientists, management, and to business leaders within the company while successfully managing outside counsel.
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find legal advisers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your legal adviser job on Zippia to find and recruit legal adviser candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit legal advisers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new legal adviser

   Once you have selected a candidate for the legal adviser position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new legal adviser first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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