250+ Legal & Compliance Jobs in Houston, TX

Official local wage data is strong but lagged: BLS shows Houston legal occupations at a $105,240 median, $144,980 mean, $64,230 at the 25th percentile, and $178,080 at the 75th percentile for 2025, and the regional BLS release shows a $69.70 mean hourly wage. More current posting data is directional rather than official; local posted salary ranges center on about $120k to $160k, with a broader band of about $80k to $220k, while hourly postings center on about $32 to $42 / hour.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 123 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $78,250 at the 25th percentile, $144,850 at the median and $182,500 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 15, 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

Houston is a real market for Legal, Compliance & Risk, but it is not an easy one. BLS counted 28,320 legal occupations in the metro in 2025, and the current local sample still shows more than 450 postings across more than 300 companies, but the metro unemployment rate was 5% in August 2026 and Texas field-specific active postings were down 3.6% year over year. At the same time, Texas employment in the field rose 2.3% year over year and Houston Professional and Business Services employment grew 2.5944% year over year, which says employers are still hiring, just more selectively and often into specialized seats.

Best positioned: You have the best odds if you bring Texas bar eligibility or a clearly transferable compliance/risk background plus sector depth in energy, corporate transactions, litigation, or public-entity work, because recent Houston expansions centered on those lanes.

Main caution: The biggest misconception is that high average pay means broad access; local postings skew mid and senior, and only about 10% are remote.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 280 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Bryan Fagan: 6 open roles
2. Axiom: 4 open roles
3. Josephson Dunlap LLP: 4 open roles
4. KBR, Inc.: 4 open roles
5. Lewis Brisbois: 4 open roles
6. Distro: 3 open roles
7. Harris County: 3 open roles
8. Jereh Eet: 3 open roles
9. TDCAA: 3 open roles
10. The Loch Group: 3 open roles

Where the openings are

• Houston: 253
• Sugar Land: 6
• The Woodlands: 6
• Spring: 3
• Richmond: 3
• Webster: 1
• Phoenix: 1
• Manchester: 1

Work arrangement

on-site 168 (62%), hybrid 90 (33%), remote 11 (4%)

Where the demand is

Most real opportunity is clustered in law-firm and law-department work tied to Houston's core industries. In the local sample, legal services make up about 35% of postings, law practice about 20%, legal about 15%, energy about 10%, and oil and gas about 10%. September expansion announcements also centered on energy finance, energy litigation, cross-border corporate work, private capital, and public-entity law at Clifford Chance, Holland & Knight, K&L Gates, Foley, and David & Stephens LLP. There is also a practical second lane in public-sector and quasi-public work. City of Houston and Harris County are among the most consistently active named employers in the sample, and David & Stephens launched specifically to serve cities, counties, transit authorities, water districts, and higher education. Because employer concentration is fragmented rather than dominated by one buyer, candidates usually do better by targeting a cluster of employer types instead of waiting on one marquee opening. Access is not even across experience levels. About 55% of sampled openings are mid-level and about 25% are senior, so the market rewards clear positioning far more than broad interest.

• Energy-linked law firms and in-house legal teams (high): Corporate, finance, litigation, and private-capital work tied to energy and infrastructure is repeatedly visible in both the posting mix and September lateral moves.
• Public entities and government-facing law (moderate): City and county employers appear in the active employer set, and a new Houston firm launched around public-entity clients.
• General legal support and compliance operations (moderate): There are openings across many employers, but they are fragmented and more competitive at entry level than many candidates expect.

Where to focus: If you can choose only one lane, focus on energy-linked corporate, litigation, or compliance work and tailor your materials to either law-firm advocacy or in-house contracts and risk.

Roles worth searching next

• Legal Operations / CLM Specialist: This is a strong bridge for contract-heavy lawyers, paralegals, and operations people because CLM implementation has become an in-demand workflow skill.
• Contract Administrator / Procurement Contracts Specialist: It uses contract negotiation, documentation, and redlining without requiring full attorney-track progression in every case.
• Privacy or AI Governance Analyst: This fits candidates coming from compliance, policy, or legal research as employers place more value on AI literacy and governance.
• Regulatory Affairs Specialist: It works well for people with energy, healthcare, or public-sector rule-interpretation experience who want less courtroom exposure and more ongoing compliance ownership.
• HR Compliance / Employee Relations Partner: Statewide commentary specifically calls out employment-law expertise, making this a practical bridge for labor-and-employment lawyers or HR investigators.

What postings ask for

• Texas bar admission (table_stakes | immediate): It is the clearest explicit local credential signal, and recent Houston growth announcements centered on counsel and partner hires rather than only support roles. Who: Attorneys relocating to Texas or law graduates targeting counsel-track roles.
• Regulatory compliance (table_stakes | immediate): It appears directly in local skill requests and lines up with statewide demand drivers in energy, financial services, consumer protection, and licensing. Who: Compliance analysts, in-house legal candidates, and career switchers from regulated industries.
• Contract Lifecycle Management implementation (differentiator | near-term): Contract Lifecycle Management implementation is explicitly flagged as in-demand, and contract negotiation is already common in local postings. Who: Contracts managers, legal operations candidates, commercial counsel, and procurement-adjacent switchers.
• AI-assisted legal research and AI literacy (premium | immediate): AI-assisted legal research is a named compensation lever, 67% of employers report higher pay for relevant AI skills, and 62% of large firms ask about AI experience in hiring interviews. Who: Mid-career lawyers, paralegals, and compliance professionals who want faster differentiation.
• eDiscovery and litigation tools (differentiator | near-term): Litigation tools show up in compensation guidance, while trial preparation is a recurring local skill and Houston firms are still strengthening litigation benches. Who: Litigation paralegals, associates, and document-heavy support professionals.
• Energy, private-capital, or public-entity domain knowledge (premium | immediate): Houston hiring news repeatedly points to energy finance, private capital, cross-border corporate work, and public-entity representation rather than generic practice. Who: Experienced attorneys, contracts professionals, and compliance managers choosing a specialization lane.

Questions about this market

What do Legal, Compliance & Risk roles pay in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX?

Official local wage data is strong but lagged: BLS shows Houston legal occupations at a $105,240 median, $144,980 mean, $64,230 at the 25th percentile, and $178,080 at the 75th percentile for 2025, and the regional BLS release shows a $69.70 mean hourly wage. More current posting data is directional rather than official; local posted salary ranges center on about $120k to $160k, with a broader band of about $80k to $220k, while hourly postings center on about $32 to $42 / hour. This is a market where experienced legal talent can clear six figures, but the spread is wide because the category mixes attorneys, paralegals, contracts, compliance, and risk roles.

Where is demand for Legal, Compliance & Risk roles in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX concentrated?

Most real opportunity is clustered in law-firm and law-department work tied to Houston's core industries. In the local sample, legal services make up about 35% of postings, law practice about 20%, legal about 15%, energy about 10%, and oil and gas about 10%. September expansion announcements also centered on energy finance, energy litigation, cross-border corporate work, private capital, and public-entity law at Clifford Chance, Holland & Knight, K&L Gates, Foley, and David & Stephens LLP. There is also a practical second lane in public-sector and quasi-public work. City of Houston and Harris County are among the most consistently active named employers in the sample, and David & Stephens launched specifically to serve cities, counties, transit authorities, water districts, and higher education. Because employer concentration is fragmented rather than dominated by one buyer, candidates usually do better by targeting a cluster of employer types instead of waiting on one marquee opening. Access is not even across experience levels. About 55% of sampled openings are mid-level and about 25% are senior, so the market rewards clear positioning far more than broad interest.

Which employers are hiring the most Legal, Compliance & Risk talent in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX?

Recent postings show the most activity from Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP (10 postings), Bryan Fagan (10 postings), City of Houston (5 postings), Harris County (5 postings), Hewlett Packard Co. (5 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Legal, Compliance & Risk roles in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 10% are remote and 30% hybrid, with 60% 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 Texas openings by job title

• Project Manager: 547 open roles statewide
• General Manager: 396 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 101 open roles statewide
• Branch Manager: 95 open roles statewide

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