NextChapter

Counsel jobs: 117 open roles

Open counsel jobs taken from employers’ own career sites and checked to still be open. Listings that state pay show a median of $213,000 a year.

The market for counsel work

Every figure names its source. Skills and AI-skill shares describe the whole Legal function this title sits in. Outlook, pay and AI-use figures are for the government category “Lawyers”, the closest occupation to this title.

Verified open counsel jobs
117

Source: NextChapter, checked against employer career sites, last 7 days.

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Median pay in listings that state it
$213,000

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

Employment outlook
Projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035 (faster than average).

Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–2035.

National median pay, all levels
$159,670

Source: BLS OEWS, 2025.

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Openings a year nationally, growth plus replacement
28,700

Source: BLS Employment Projections.

AI use at work
Among lawyers, AI is already used for some of the tasks.

Source: Anthropic Economic Index.

Legal openings that ask for AI skills
2%

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

Legal openings that are remote
4%

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

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Skills most often named in openings

  1. 1. litigation22%
  2. 2. regulatory compliance7%
  3. 3. risk management4%
  4. 4. audit3%
  5. 5. excel3%
  6. 6. procurement2%
  7. 7. intellectual property2%
  8. 8. project management2%

AI skills worth building for this work

  1. 1. AI tools in daily work
  2. 2. Gen-AI assistants (ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude)
  3. 3. Prompt design
  4. 4. AI coding assistants
  5. 5. AI workflow automation
  6. 6. Automation platforms (Zapier, n8n, Power Automate)

More on Legal roles

Where counsel experience can go next

Career moves the skills carry over to, closest fit first. Time is how long a move usually takes.

  • Compliance and risk

    Close fit · Quick switch (weeks)

    Compliance is legal judgment applied to day-to-day operations, with steadier hours.

    Carries over: Regulatory reading, Risk judgment, Policy drafting

  • Contracts management

    Close fit · Quick switch (weeks)

    Contract management uses your drafting and negotiation without billable hours.

    Carries over: Drafting and negotiating, Risk spotting, Attention to detail

  • Legal operations

    Adjacent · A few months

    Legal operations runs the legal department like a business, a growing field as legal teams adopt AI tools.

    Carries over: Knowing how legal work flows, Matter management, Vendor management

  • Government contracting and public sector sales

    Stretch · A few months

    Government contractors need people who can read regulations and write proposals.

    Carries over: Regulations, Contract terms, Writing

How would your résumé fare for counsel?

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Open counsel jobs

Verified against the employer’s own career site within the last week.

Showing the newest 15 of about 117 verified open jobs here. Search all jobs

Search all counsel jobs

Counsel salary

The middle half of counsel listings that state pay run from $185,000 to $275,000. See the full counsel salary breakdown.

Legal jobs in the rankings

Rankings about legal jobs

Legal jobs · Top Legal employers · All rankings

Where counsel jobs are

Between jobs? Unemployment benefits and severance rules in these states, or in every state.

Counsel jobs by city and state

Employers hiring counsels

  • Barnes & Thornburg 28
  • SpaceX 8
  • Clearway Energy Group 5
  • Lyft 5
  • Estee Lauder Companies 3
  • OpenAI 3
  • CoreWeave 3
  • Promise 2
  • Hyundai Motor America 2
  • Scout Motors 2

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