Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between legal counsels and litigation associates 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 litigation associate. Additionally, a legal counsel has an average salary of $132,867, which is higher than the $112,116 average annual salary of a litigation associate.
The top three skills for a legal counsel include legal advice, legal issues and litigation. The most important skills for a litigation associate are litigation, law firm, and legal research.
| Legal Counsel | Litigation Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $132,867 | $112,116 |
| Hourly rate | $63.88 | $53.90 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 10,337 | 9,779 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Doctoral Degree, 56% |
| 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 Litigation Associate offers legal advice for individuals involved in lawsuits and represents them in court. They prepare pleading, collect evidence, defend depositions, and manage the client database.
Legal counsels and litigation associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Counsel | Litigation Associate | |
| Average salary | $132,867 | $112,116 |
| Salary range | Between $81,000 And $216,000 | Between $68,000 And $182,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | White Plains, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Apple | Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal counsel and a litigation associate in terms of educational background:
| Legal Counsel | Litigation Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Doctoral Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Law | Law |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal counsels' and litigation associates' demographics:
| Legal Counsel | Litigation Associate | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.2% Female, 45.8% | Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6% |
| 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, 5.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |