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Legal adviser vs attorney

The differences between legal advisers and attorneys can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a legal adviser and an attorney. Additionally, an attorney has an average salary of $109,476, which is higher than the $57,190 average annual salary of a legal adviser.

The top three skills for a legal adviser include litigation, legal advice and legal research. The most important skills for an attorney are litigation, legal research, and law firm.

Legal adviser vs attorney overview

Legal AdviserAttorney
Yearly salary$57,190$109,476
Hourly rate$27.50$52.63
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs16,49610,991
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Doctoral Degree, 48%
Average age4646
Years of experience44

Legal adviser vs attorney salary

Legal advisers and attorneys have different pay scales, as shown below.

Legal AdviserAttorney
Average salary$57,190$109,476
Salary rangeBetween $33,000 And $99,000Between $69,000 And $172,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCWhite Plains, NY
Highest paying stateNew YorkNew York
Best paying companyNossamanThompson Coburn
Best paying industry--

Differences between legal adviser and attorney education

There are a few differences between a legal adviser and an attorney in terms of educational background:

Legal AdviserAttorney
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Doctoral Degree, 48%
Most common majorLawLaw
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Legal adviser vs attorney demographics

Here are the differences between legal advisers' and attorneys' demographics:

Legal AdviserAttorney
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 53.1% Female, 46.9%Male, 49.9% Female, 50.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 75.3% 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, 75.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between legal adviser and attorney duties and responsibilities

Legal adviser example 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.

Attorney example responsibilities.

  • Manage the death administration department with approximately thirty-five plus estates through trust administration, Medicaid estate recovery or probate.
  • Respond to subpoenas and pleadings in litigation and in regulatory inquiries and investigations involving corporate clients.
  • Represent employers before federal administrative agencies, including inspections, administrative litigation, court-enforcement actions and appeals.
  • Litigate personal injury, and general liability matters, worker's compensation, estate planning and litigation, environmental liability litigation.
  • Create and give a presentation regarding non- attorney ethics to division staff.
  • Comply with all agency policies and procedures, including those pertaining to ethics and integrity
  • Show more

Legal adviser vs attorney skills

Common legal adviser skills
  • Litigation, 10%
  • Legal Advice, 10%
  • Legal Research, 8%
  • Legal Issues, 8%
  • International Law, 7%
  • Public Policy, 6%
Common attorney skills
  • Litigation, 19%
  • Legal Research, 9%
  • Law Firm, 8%
  • Legal Issues, 6%
  • Legal Advice, 5%
  • Juris, 4%