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Legal consultant vs litigation attorney

The differences between legal consultants and litigation 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 consultant and a litigation attorney. Additionally, a litigation attorney has an average salary of $109,027, which is higher than the $75,024 average annual salary of a legal consultant.

The top three skills for a legal consultant include litigation, regulatory compliance and legal research. The most important skills for a litigation attorney are litigation, law firm, and legal research.

Legal consultant vs litigation attorney overview

Legal ConsultantLitigation Attorney
Yearly salary$75,024$109,027
Hourly rate$36.07$52.42
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs16,1186,918
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Doctoral Degree, 53%
Average age4646
Years of experience44

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.

What does a litigation attorney do?

A Litigation Attorney manages all phases of the litigation process from investigation and pleading to trial, settlement, and appeal. They also question witnesses, victims, and others involved in cases.

Legal consultant vs litigation attorney salary

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

Legal ConsultantLitigation Attorney
Average salary$75,024$109,027
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $139,000Between $69,000 And $172,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew YorkCalifornia
Best paying companyAlston & BirdPerkins Coie
Best paying industryProfessionalProfessional

Differences between legal consultant and litigation attorney education

There are a few differences between a legal consultant and a litigation attorney in terms of educational background:

Legal ConsultantLitigation Attorney
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Doctoral Degree, 53%
Most common majorLawLaw
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Legal consultant vs litigation attorney demographics

Here are the differences between legal consultants' and litigation attorneys' demographics:

Legal ConsultantLitigation Attorney
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 49.0% Female, 51.0%Male, 56.8% Female, 43.2%
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, 5.5% 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 legal consultant and litigation attorney duties and responsibilities

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.

Litigation attorney example responsibilities.

  • Supervise and manage plaintiff's personal injury practice.
  • Develop litigation strategies including discovery, deposition, arbitration, and jury trial.
  • Draft internal memos, subpoenas and various discovery documents.
  • Direct and determine all aspects of plaintiff litigation and resolution strategy.
  • Review documents for FINRA arbitration concerning poaching of traders between inter-dealer brokers.
  • Respond to investigative subpoenas from U.S. government regulatory agencies requesting production of relevant client and third party material.
  • Show more

Legal consultant vs litigation attorney skills

Common legal consultant skills
  • Litigation, 16%
  • Regulatory Compliance, 9%
  • Legal Research, 8%
  • Financial Statements, 5%
  • Client Relationships, 5%
  • Legal Issues, 5%
Common litigation attorney skills
  • Litigation, 30%
  • Law Firm, 14%
  • Legal Research, 6%
  • Civil Litigation, 4%
  • Commercial Litigation, 3%
  • Insurance Defense, 3%