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The differences between legal investigators and associate 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 investigator and an associate attorney. Additionally, an associate attorney has an average salary of $110,053, which is higher than the $72,914 average annual salary of a legal investigator.
The top three skills for a legal investigator include investigative reports, litigation and legal investigations. The most important skills for an associate attorney are litigation, law firm, and discovery responses.
| Legal Investigator | Associate Attorney | |
| Yearly salary | $72,914 | $110,053 |
| Hourly rate | $35.05 | $52.91 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 9,582 | 9,183 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Doctoral Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Legal investigators are professionals tasked with providing research, investigative services, and surveillance to the public, insurance companies, financial institutions, law firms, banks, and even local law enforcement agencies. They use methods and tools to uncover facts about financial, personal, and legal matters. This type of investigator must pay attention to analyzing details and evidence, but it will be difficult to know to begin. There is no need for formal education to be a legal investigator, one must take a legal investigator certificate course.
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.
Legal investigators and associate attorneys have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Investigator | Associate Attorney | |
| Average salary | $72,914 | $110,053 |
| Salary range | Between $45,000 And $117,000 | Between $70,000 And $170,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Schiff Hardin |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal investigator and an associate attorney in terms of educational background:
| Legal Investigator | Associate Attorney | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Doctoral Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Criminal Justice | Law |
| Most common college | University of Richmond | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal investigators' and associate attorneys' demographics:
| Legal Investigator | Associate Attorney | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% | Male, 57.1% Female, 42.9% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 75.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |