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The differences between legal counsels and contracts managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a legal counsel, becoming a contracts manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a legal counsel has an average salary of $132,867, which is higher than the $72,691 average annual salary of a contracts manager.
The top three skills for a legal counsel include legal advice, legal issues and litigation. The most important skills for a contracts manager are contract management, contract administration, and contract terms.
| Legal Counsel | Contracts Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $132,867 | $72,691 |
| Hourly rate | $63.88 | $34.95 |
| Growth rate | 10% | -6% |
| Number of jobs | 10,337 | 13,218 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 46 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A Legal Counsel supervises the legal aspects of a business. They give accurate and timely counsel to executives on a variety of legal topics, such as labor law, partnerships, or international ventures.
A contract manager is responsible for finalizing contract agreements between the company and its clients, revising documents, creating procurement proposals, and managing breach of contracts immediately. Contract managers respond to clients' inquiries and concerns about the contract's terms, conditions, and adjustment requests. They should be highly knowledgeable with legal terms and legislation regulations, ensuring that documents align with their objectives. The contract manager should also stay updated with the latest trends to meet contract demands, identify more business opportunities to boost revenues, and achieve profitability goals.
Legal counsels and contracts managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Counsel | Contracts Manager | |
| Average salary | $132,867 | $72,691 |
| Salary range | Between $81,000 And $216,000 | Between $45,000 And $116,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | McKinsey & Company Inc |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a legal counsel and a contracts manager in terms of educational background:
| Legal Counsel | Contracts Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Law | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal counsels' and contracts managers' demographics:
| Legal Counsel | Contracts Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.2% Female, 45.8% | Male, 54.0% Female, 46.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.6% 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, 9.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 7.4% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 11% |