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Legal adviser vs contract attorney

The differences between legal advisers and contract 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 a contract attorney. Additionally, a contract attorney has an average salary of $97,474, 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 a contract attorney are litigation, e-discovery, and legal research.

Legal adviser vs contract attorney overview

Legal AdviserContract Attorney
Yearly salary$57,190$97,474
Hourly rate$27.50$46.86
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs16,49613,592
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Doctoral Degree, 57%
Average age4646
Years of experience44

Legal adviser vs contract attorney salary

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

Legal AdviserContract Attorney
Average salary$57,190$97,474
Salary rangeBetween $33,000 And $99,000Between $60,000 And $158,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCSan Ramon, CA
Highest paying stateNew YorkCalifornia
Best paying companyNossamanPerkins Coie
Best paying industry--

Differences between legal adviser and contract attorney education

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

Legal AdviserContract Attorney
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Doctoral Degree, 57%
Most common majorLawLaw
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Legal adviser vs contract attorney demographics

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

Legal AdviserContract Attorney
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 53.1% Female, 46.9%Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1%
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, 5.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 75.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between legal adviser and contract 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.

Contract attorney example responsibilities.

  • Conduct first-level document review, QC review, and privilege review for complex residential mortgage-backed securities litigation.
  • Experience in e-discovery document review teams assessing responsiveness in second requests, pharmaceutical litigation/product liability cases and patent infringement suits.
  • Consult with law firms regarding deposition and hearing preparations and provide other litigation support services for various banking and pharmaceutical antitrust matters
  • Remove confidential personal information and HIPAA.
  • Prepare deposition files, write pleadings, subpoenas and participate in other discovery-relate projects.
  • Privilege log line writing and privilege QC in large-scale anti-trust litigation/investigation of several private equity firms.
  • Show more

Legal adviser vs contract attorney skills

Common legal adviser skills
  • Litigation, 10%
  • Legal Advice, 10%
  • Legal Research, 8%
  • Legal Issues, 8%
  • International Law, 7%
  • Public Policy, 6%
Common contract attorney skills
  • Litigation, 23%
  • E-Discovery, 11%
  • Legal Research, 7%
  • Legal Issues, 4%
  • Real Estate, 3%
  • Intellectual Property, 3%