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What is a legal counsel and how to become one
A Legal Counsel is an individually trained, qualified, and licensed to practice law. Their work entails providing legal guidance, advice, and representing clients in civil and criminal cases. Their clients can be individuals, businesses, or government institutions.
Regardless of the client they represent, legal counsels have an obligation to uphold the law while protecting the client's rights. A legal counsel may decide to specialize in a particular area of law or to be a general practitioner that represents clients on different matters.
The common areas of specialization are family law, criminal law, company law, intellectual property law, immigration law, employment law, among others. The exact duties of a legal counsel depend on whether the case they are handling is a civil one or a criminal one but their general objective is to minimize the legal risk associated with their client's affairs.
A legal counsel works 40 hours a week, but sometimes extra hours are necessary when they need to meet with clients or prepare for trial.
What general advice would you give to a Legal Counsel?
Hanna Royce
Assistant Dean of Career Services, University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law
Many graduates are securing remote positions. To be successful in a remote environment, employees need to make the extra effort to communicate and stay connected with colleagues. Even when employees are telecommuting, they should dress as if they are going into the office. This can help them with productivity and illustrate their professionalism when meeting with colleagues or clients.
Avg. Salary $132,867
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth Rate 10%
Growth Rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%
Asian 6.46%
Black or African American 5.64%
Hispanic or Latino 7.87%
Unknown 4.39%
White 75.35%
Genderfemale 45.78%
male 54.22%
Age - 45American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 45Stress level is very high
7.1 - high
Complexity Level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work Life balance is fair
6.4 - fair
Legal Counsel career paths
Key steps to become a legal counsel
Explore legal counsel education requirements
Start to develop specific legal counsel skills
Skills 
Percentages Legal Advice 11.06% Legal Issues 8.53% Litigation 8.30% Legal Support 7.19% Intellectual Property 5.27% Complete relevant legal counsel training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New legal counsels learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a legal counsel based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real legal counsel resumes.Research legal counsel duties and responsibilities
- Achieve statewide recognition as expert on Medicare and Medicaid.
- Manage high-risk employee terminations from initial decision through preparation for appeals hearings and any subsequent legal action.
- Assist in liaising with insurance authorities, responding to regulatory inquiries and managing relationship with region from legal and business perspective.
- Conduct anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) due diligence on a daily basis.
Prepare your legal counsel resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your legal counsel resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a legal counsel resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Legal Counsel Resume templates
Build a professional Legal Counsel resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Legal Counsel resume.
Apply for legal counsel jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a legal counsel job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How Did You Land Your First Legal Counsel Job
Are you a Legal Counsel?
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Average legal counsel salary
The average Legal Counsel salary in the United States is $132,867 per year or $64 per hour. Legal counsel salaries range between $81,000 and $216,000 per year.
What Am I Worth?
How do legal counsels rate their job?
Legal Counsel reviews
As a civil litigation defense attorney I love the fact that every day is different. I enjoy assisting clients who have a problem to solve that problem in the most cost effective way, and how to avoid such problems in the future. I like that I basically set my own work schedule (other than court dates).
Billing hours. Unscrupulous opposing counsel. Occasional biased judges who do not follow the law.
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Updated January 8, 2025
