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The differences between legal investigators and contract 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 a contract attorney. Additionally, a contract attorney has an average salary of $97,474, 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 a contract attorney are litigation, e-discovery, and legal research.
| Legal Investigator | Contract Attorney | |
| Yearly salary | $72,914 | $97,474 |
| Hourly rate | $35.05 | $46.86 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 9,582 | 13,592 |
| 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.
A contract attorney is responsible for handling their clients' legal issues and settling cases by researching, analyzing, and collecting essential files that would support the clients' claims. Contract attorneys usually work for private clients without being permanently employed in a law firm or government agency. Contract attorneys represent clients at court, assist with law proceedings, and advise clients for the necessary legal procedures. A contract attorney must have excellent communication and critical-thinking skills to manage client legal matters and expertise in traditional disciplines and processes.
Legal investigators and contract attorneys have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Investigator | Contract Attorney | |
| Average salary | $72,914 | $97,474 |
| Salary range | Between $45,000 And $117,000 | Between $60,000 And $158,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Ramon, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Perkins Coie |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a legal investigator and a contract attorney in terms of educational background:
| Legal Investigator | Contract 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 contract attorneys' demographics:
| Legal Investigator | Contract Attorney | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% | Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1% |
| 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, 75.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |