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The differences between legal counsels and legal consultants 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 counsel and a legal consultant. Additionally, a legal counsel has an average salary of $132,867, which is higher than the $75,024 average annual salary of a legal consultant.
The top three skills for a legal counsel include legal advice, legal issues and litigation. The most important skills for a legal consultant are litigation, regulatory compliance, and legal research.
| Legal Counsel | Legal Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $132,867 | $75,024 |
| Hourly rate | $63.88 | $36.07 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 10,337 | 16,118 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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 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.
Legal counsels and legal consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Counsel | Legal Consultant | |
| Average salary | $132,867 | $75,024 |
| Salary range | Between $81,000 And $216,000 | Between $40,000 And $139,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Apple | Alston & Bird |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal counsel and a legal consultant in terms of educational background:
| Legal Counsel | Legal Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Law | Law |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal counsels' and legal consultants' demographics:
| Legal Counsel | Legal Consultant | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.2% Female, 45.8% | Male, 49.0% Female, 51.0% |
| 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, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |