Corporate lawyer to legal consultant
A corporate lawyer already meets 76% of what the legal consultant role asks for. The move turns on 2 required skills not yet in the profile.
24.4/ 100
1 How much of what a legal consultant is expected to do is already part of a corporate lawyer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the legal consultant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A legal consultant role treats 9 of its required skills as things a corporate lawyer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- analyse legal enforceability
- compile legal documents
- identify clients' needs
- interpret law
- legal terminology
- private law
What stands in the way is 2 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 27 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A legal consultant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a corporate lawyer background worth leading with.
- already held state aid regulations business, administration and law
- already held analyse legal enforceability communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held negotiate in legal cases communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held present legal arguments communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held mergers and acquisitions business, administration and law
- already held moderate in negotiations communication, collaboration and creativity
All 27 carried skills, including the 9 the legal consultant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 10 missing skills fall into 3 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn ensure law application required
- optional, not held protect personal data and privacy optional
- still to learn advise on legal decisions required
- optional, not held apply technical communication skills optional
- optional, not held European Structural and Investment Funds regulations optional
- optional, not held business law optional
- optional, not held civil law optional
- optional, not held law of non-marital cohabitation optional
- optional, not held procurement legislation optional
- optional, not held real estate market optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 2 entries a legal consultant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 27 skills that carry over
- already held analyse legal enforceability skill
- already held compile legal documents skill
- already held identify clients' needs skill
- already held interpret law skill
- already held legal terminology knowledge
- already held private law knowledge
- already held protect client interests skill
- already held provide legal advice skill
- already held use consulting techniques skill
- already held analyse internal factors of companies skill
- already held analyse legal evidence skill
- already held consult with business clients skill
- already held contract law knowledge
- already held corporate law knowledge
- already held court procedures knowledge
- already held legal case management knowledge
- already held legal research knowledge
- already held manage contract disputes skill
- already held manage contracts skill
- already held maritime law knowledge
- already held mergers and acquisitions knowledge
- already held moderate in negotiations skill
- already held negotiate in legal cases skill
- already held observe confidentiality skill
- already held present legal arguments skill
- already held respond to enquiries skill
- already held state aid regulations knowledge
8 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held European Structural and Investment Funds regulations optional
- optional, not held apply technical communication skills optional
- optional, not held business law optional
- optional, not held civil law optional
- optional, not held law of non-marital cohabitation optional
- optional, not held procurement legislation optional
- optional, not held protect personal data and privacy optional
- optional, not held real estate market optional
39 held skills the legal consultant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role European vehicle type-approval legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT security legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role advise on participation in financial markets skill
- not needed by the target role air transport law knowledge
- not needed by the target role anti-dumping law knowledge
- not needed by the target role assess financial viability skill
- not needed by the target role commercial law knowledge
- not needed by the target role competition law knowledge
- not needed by the target role copyright legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role detect financial crime skill
- not needed by the target role develop professional network skill
- not needed by the target role employment law knowledge
- not needed by the target role environmental legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role financial statements knowledge
- not needed by the target role food legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role health care legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role insolvency law knowledge
- not needed by the target role intellectual property law knowledge
- not needed by the target role international law knowledge
- not needed by the target role international trade knowledge
- not needed by the target role interpret financial statements skill
- not needed by the target role joint ventures knowledge
- not needed by the target role legislation in agriculture knowledge
- not needed by the target role media law knowledge
- not needed by the target role negotiate lawyer's fee skill
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role present arguments persuasively skill
- not needed by the target role property law knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide legal advice on investments skill
- not needed by the target role public auction procedures knowledge
- not needed by the target role railway law knowledge
- not needed by the target role represent clients in courts skill
- not needed by the target role road transport legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role securities knowledge
- not needed by the target role social security law knowledge
- not needed by the target role subsidiary operations knowledge
- not needed by the target role tax legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role trace financial transactions skill
- not needed by the target role urban planning law knowledge
6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held European Structural and Investment Funds regulations optional
- optional, not held business law optional
- optional, not held civil law optional
- optional, not held law of non-marital cohabitation optional
- optional, not held procurement legislation optional
- optional, not held real estate market optional
Common questions about this move
Can a corporate lawyer become a legal consultant?
Yes, and it is an adjacent move. A corporate lawyer already covers 76% of what a legal consultant is expected to do: 27 skills carry over, 9 of which the legal consultant role treats as required.
What skills does a corporate lawyer need to become a legal consultant?
2 required skills are missing, plus 8 optional ones. They fall into 3 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is advise on legal decisions.
How hard is the move from corporate lawyer to legal consultant?
Its learning distance is 24.4 out of 100, which is the adjacent band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.