Legal Jobs in Chicago, IL

Observed government pay is strong at the broad occupation level: Chicago legal occupations showed a $71.28 mean hourly wage in May 2025, a $112,440 median annual wage, and a $148,260 mean annual wage, with the 75th percentile at $197,570. That is broad legal-occupation data, not a live quote for every sub-role. More current directional signals are mixed by submarket: posted salary ranges in local listings center on about $120k to $160k, Illinois mean offered salary on new legal, compliance & risk openings was about $123,466 in September 2026 (n=327), and a compliance-officer proxy puts Chicago median pay at $82,020.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 383 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $86,219 at the 25th percentile, $123,994 at the median and $183,875 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of November 10, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

Chicago is still a workable market for legal, compliance, and risk roles, but it is more selective than buoyant. The metro unemployment rate was 5.2% in August 2026, and total metro payroll employment was only up 0.2% year over year, which points to a slower local backdrop overall. At the same time, Illinois legal, compliance & risk employment was up 3.1% year over year in September 2026, and the field still showed around 5,224 active postings statewide even after a 1.8% year-over-year dip. That usually means real openings exist, but employers can screen harder for specialization, credentials, and immediate fit.

Best positioned: Licensed attorneys and in-house compliance or risk candidates who can show depth in AI governance, privacy or cybersecurity, contract and transaction work, employee-benefits compliance, or insurance-risk matters have the best odds right now.

Main caution: Do not confuse Chicago's strong top-end legal pay with broad accessibility; this market rewards specialization far more than general interest.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 467 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Safeguard Law Group, PLLC: 18 open roles
2. Illinois Defense Counsel: 13 open roles
3. Beacon Hill Solutions Group: 12 open roles
4. Blittandgaines: 11 open roles
5. AbbVie: 8 open roles
6. Axiom: 8 open roles
7. United States Attorneys' Offices: 8 open roles
8. Winston Taylor LLP: 6 open roles
9. Ashurst Perkins Coie Group: 5 open roles
10. City of Chicago: 5 open roles

Where the openings are

• Chicago: 316
• Naperville: 10
• Northbrook: 8
• North Chicago: 8
• Downers Grove: 7
• Wheaton: 7
• Schaumburg: 6
• Vernon Hills: 6

Work arrangement

on-site 249 (54%), hybrid 166 (36%), remote 45 (10%)

Where the demand is

Opportunity is spread across many employers rather than controlled by one buyer. Over the last 90 days, the local sample showed more than 750 postings across more than 400 companies, and hiring was fragmented across employers. Industry mix leaned heavily toward law-firm demand: legal services accounted for about 40% of postings, legal about 15%, and law practice about 15%, with financial services and nonprofit organizations each at about 10%. That creates two distinct markets. The broader one is firm-side work built around litigation, research, drafting, and case management. The more advantaged niche is specialized in-house and advisory work around privacy, cybersecurity, AI governance, technology transactions, employee-benefits compliance, insurance recovery, and risk management, which showed up clearly in September Chicago hiring and event signals.

• Law firms and litigation support (high): Around 70% of the recent local mix sits in legal services, legal, and law practice, so firm-side research, writing, drafting, case-management, and litigation support remain the largest visible channel.
• Privacy, cyber, and AI-governance counsel (high): September Chicago moves at Reed Smith and Seyfarth highlighted AI governance, data privacy, cybersecurity, and data-risk work as active local focus areas.
• Regulated-industry compliance and risk (moderate): Financial services accounts for about 10% of the local posting mix, and local emerging-tech legal work is serving clients across healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and retail.
• Nonprofit and public-interest organizations (moderate): Nonprofit organizations make up about 10% of the local mix, and DCBA Friend and Sponsor OVC, INC was one of the most active named employers in the recent sample.

Where to focus: If you have a choice, focus on roles that combine a legal core with privacy, AI governance, contracts, benefits, investigations, or risk-specialty depth.

Roles worth searching next

• eDiscovery Project Manager: Chicago's legal-tech community had visible eDiscovery activity through RelFest, and national employer guidance lists eDiscovery and legal operations as areas of growing interest.
• Privacy Program Manager or Cybersecurity Governance Analyst: Local Chicago demand is visibly connecting legal work to AI governance, data privacy, cybersecurity, and data-risk issues.
• Contracts Operations or CLM Manager: Contract lifecycle management is a national growth skill, and contract negotiation is a recurring local requirement.
• Insurance Coverage or Claims Strategy Analyst: Chicago firm hiring showed active interest in insurance recovery and cyber or data-breach liability matters.

What postings ask for

• Illinois bar admission (table_stakes | immediate): It is the most commonly stated specific credential in local postings, even though only about 5% explicitly name it. Who: Attorneys targeting firm or in-house counsel roles.
• Legal research and legal writing (table_stakes | immediate): Local postings most often ask for legal research at about 35% and legal writing at about 15%, making them baseline screening signals. Who: Entry-level candidates, paralegals, and attorneys changing employers.
• Regulatory compliance and risk management (differentiator | immediate): Regulatory compliance and risk management each appear in about 10% of local skill requests, which makes them one of the cleanest bridges between legal and business-side hiring. Who: Mid-career professionals and career switchers from regulated industries.
• AI governance, data privacy, and cybersecurity (premium | immediate): Chicago September hiring and events highlighted AI governance, privacy, cybersecurity, and data-risk work, and 64% of 309 surveyed in-house and compliance leaders ranked AI governance and oversight among the most critical skills for the next three years. Who: Attorneys, privacy professionals, compliance managers, and senior in-house candidates.
• Contract lifecycle management and contract negotiation (differentiator | near-term): Contract negotiation shows up in about 10% of local skill requests, national employer guidance flags contract lifecycle management as a growth area, and local Chicago firm hiring also pointed to technology-transaction work. Who: Contracts managers, commercial counsel, legal ops candidates, and switchers from procurement or sales operations.
• eDiscovery and legal operations (differentiator | near-term): National employer guidance highlights eDiscovery and legal operations, Chicago hosted RelFest for the eDiscovery community, and the CLOC Legal Operations Certified Professional credential is launching initial exam spots in Winter 2026. Who: Paralegals, discovery-heavy litigators, legal ops staff, and project-minded career switchers.

Questions about this market

What do Legal, Compliance & Risk roles pay in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?

Observed government pay is strong at the broad occupation level: Chicago legal occupations showed a $71.28 mean hourly wage in May 2025, a $112,440 median annual wage, and a $148,260 mean annual wage, with the 75th percentile at $197,570. That is broad legal-occupation data, not a live quote for every sub-role. More current directional signals are mixed by submarket: posted salary ranges in local listings center on about $120k to $160k, Illinois mean offered salary on new legal, compliance & risk openings was about $123,466 in September 2026 (n=327), and a compliance-officer proxy puts Chicago median pay at $82,020. Chicago can pay very well, but the premium mostly shows up in attorney-heavy and specialized in-house roles rather than across the whole category.

Where is demand for Legal, Compliance & Risk roles in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN concentrated?

Opportunity is spread across many employers rather than controlled by one buyer. Over the last 90 days, the local sample showed more than 750 postings across more than 400 companies, and hiring was fragmented across employers. Industry mix leaned heavily toward law-firm demand: legal services accounted for about 40% of postings, legal about 15%, and law practice about 15%, with financial services and nonprofit organizations each at about 10%. That creates two distinct markets. The broader one is firm-side work built around litigation, research, drafting, and case management. The more advantaged niche is specialized in-house and advisory work around privacy, cybersecurity, AI governance, technology transactions, employee-benefits compliance, insurance recovery, and risk management, which showed up clearly in September Chicago hiring and event signals.

Which employers are hiring the most Legal, Compliance & Risk talent in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN?

Recent postings show the most activity from DCBA Friend and Sponsor OVC, INC (30 postings), AbbVie (20 postings), Morgan & Morgan, PA (15 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Legal, Compliance & Risk roles in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 10% are remote and 45% hybrid, with 45% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Browse Illinois openings by job title

• General Manager: 203 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 74 open roles statewide

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