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The differences between senior attorneys and associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior attorney has an average salary of $111,002, which is higher than the $69,556 average annual salary of an associate.
The top three skills for a senior attorney include litigation, law firm and legal advice. The most important skills for an associate are customer service, sales floor, and patients.
| Senior Attorney | Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $111,002 | $69,556 |
| Hourly rate | $53.37 | $33.44 |
| Growth rate | 10% | - |
| Number of jobs | 10,445 | 569,041 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 46 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A Senior Attorney supervises all activities of junior attorneys and deals with all complex legal transactions. They identify legal issues and offer businesses and their customers optimum solutions, as well as ensure that businesses respond appropriately to any legislative changes.
Associates are typically entry-level positions for employees who are taking on their first job or organizational role. They are assigned to teams or departments that are related to their skills or educational background. They usually start with smaller tasks that may not seem as impactful but are still essential to the department. Associates are trained by more tenured team members on the ins and outs of the department and the organization. As they grow with the organization, they are given more responsibilities that directly impact the results of the department's initiatives as they work towards their goals.
Senior attorneys and associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Attorney | Associate | |
| Average salary | $111,002 | $69,556 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $183,000 | Between $34,000 And $140,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Clifford Chance | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett |
| Best paying industry | Professional | - |
There are a few differences between a senior attorney and an associate in terms of educational background:
| Senior Attorney | Associate | |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Law | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | - |
Here are the differences between senior attorneys' and associates' demographics:
| Senior Attorney | Associate | |
| Average age | 46 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 60.1% Female, 39.9% | Male, 50.4% Female, 49.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 6.2% White, 76.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 8.3% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 7% |