What does a legal adviser do?
Legal adviser responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real legal adviser resumes:
- 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.
Legal adviser skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Legal Advisers are proficient in Litigation, Legal Advice, and Legal Research. They’re also known for soft skills such as Problem-solving skills, Writing skills, and Research skills.
We break down the percentage of Legal Advisers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Litigation, 10%
Assisted attorneys with employment litigation, administrative disciplinary hearings and requests for police records.
- Legal Advice, 10%
Provided legal advice and support to a team of investigators and forensic accountants in investigation and subsequent enforcement action.
- Legal Research, 8%
Performed extensive legal research on commercial aspects relating to court cases and prepared legal documents accordingly.
- Legal Issues, 8%
Liaised with external service providers /internal departments to ensure all contract / legal issues effectively managed and resolved.
- International Law, 7%
Established and maintained electronic international law database.
- Public Policy, 6%
Verified technical analyses in legislation and public policy, including proposals and projects.
"litigation," "legal advice," and "legal research" are among the most common skills that legal advisers use at work. You can find even more legal adviser responsibilities below, including:
Problem-solving skills. The most essential soft skill for a legal adviser to carry out their responsibilities is problem-solving skills. This skill is important for the role because "lawyers must evaluate information to propose viable solutions, mediate disputes, and reach agreements or settlements for their clients." Additionally, a legal adviser resume shows how their duties depend on problem-solving skills: "provided litigation and dispute resolution, consulting services, and drafted opinions, contracts and memoranda"
Research skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of legal advisers is research skills. This skill is critical to many everyday legal adviser duties, as "lawyers need to find laws and regulations that apply to a specific matter in order to provide appropriate legal advice for their clients." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "researched legal issues and drafted memorandum for potential litigation. "
Analytical skills. legal adviser responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "lawyers interpret the law as it applies to their client’s case." This resume example shows what legal advisers do with analytical skills on a typical day: "conducted legal analysis of confidential pending international corporate environmental liability litigation. "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on legal adviser job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in legal adviser duties, since "lawyers must be able to clearly present and explain information to clients, opposing parties, and other members of the legal community." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day legal adviser responsibilities: "lead attorney for potential investment of over usd$1 billion in major telecommunications company in south africa. "
The three companies that hire the most legal advisers are:
- Cigna3 legal advisers jobs
- Prysmian Group3 legal advisers jobs
- L.A. Care Health Plan2 legal advisers jobs
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Compare different legal advisers
Legal adviser vs. 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. Attorneys must acquire strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to mediate disputes and settle pending litigation for the client's best interest. In some cases, an attorney's procedure depends on any evidence and research presented during the trial period. An attorney is expected to present clients on legal proceedings, seeking justice and justifying the law.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, legal adviser responsibilities require skills like "international law," "public policy," "legal procedures," and "legal assistance." Meanwhile a typical attorney has skills in areas such as "juris," "appeals," "trial preparation," and "real estate transactions." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Attorneys tend to reach lower levels of education than legal advisers. In fact, attorneys are 12.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 20.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Legal adviser vs. 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real legal adviser resumes. While legal adviser responsibilities can utilize skills like "public policy," "legal procedures," "legal assistance," and "legal support," attorneys at law use skills like "juris," "real estate transactions," "trial preparation," and "probate."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Attorneys at law tend to reach lower levels of education than legal advisers. In fact, they're 11.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 20.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Legal adviser vs. Associate attorney
An associate attorney's role is to provide legal counseling to an individual or business entity, resolve legal disputes through crafting agreements and negotiating contract terms, and serving as an advisor or advocate. Most associate attorneys work at law firms or government agencies, supervised by more experienced personnel. Among the duties of an associate attorney includes conducting extensive research on every case, presenting factual evidence and statements, producing the legal and necessary documentation, and representing clients in formal settings.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, legal advisers are more likely to have skills like "international law," "public policy," "legal procedures," and "legal assistance." But a associate attorney is more likely to have skills like "discovery responses," "pre-trial motions," "real estate transactions," and "probate."
Associate attorneys typically earn lower educational levels compared to legal advisers. Specifically, they're 14.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 29.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Legal adviser vs. Contract attorney
A contract attorney is responsible for handling their clients' legal issues and settling cases by researching, analyzing, and collecting essential files that would support the clients' claims. Contract attorneys usually work for private clients without being permanently employed in a law firm or government agency. Contract attorneys represent clients at court, assist with law proceedings, and advise clients for the necessary legal procedures. A contract attorney must have excellent communication and critical-thinking skills to manage client legal matters and expertise in traditional disciplines and processes.
Types of legal adviser
Updated January 8, 2025
