Legal Jobs in San Francisco, CA

Observed government wage data for the metro's legal occupations family shows a $159,680 median, $189,510 mean, $96,670 25th percentile, and $249,990 75th percentile in 2025. More recent posting-based signals center on about $168k to $230k locally, while California new openings average about $146,370 and national legal openings average about $131,402; those offered-salary figures come from posting samples, not metro wage medians.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 329 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $135,000 at the 25th percentile, $190,000 at the median and $255,000 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

This is a competitive market for the next 3-6 months: the Bay Area unemployment rate was 4.1% seasonally adjusted in August 2026, total metro nonfarm employment was up 0.5593% year over year, and there were more than 700 Legal, Compliance & Risk postings across more than 400 companies over the last 90 days. But the easier-growth story is gone: metro Professional and Business Services employment was down 1.1787% year over year in August, while California Legal, Compliance & Risk postings were down 9.4% year over year even as category employment rose 2.6%. That combination says employers still need legal, compliance, and risk work done, but they are filling fewer seats and want people who can contribute fast.

Best positioned: The best odds right now go to mid-career, California-barred attorneys and compliance/risk professionals who can show regulatory compliance, contract negotiation, risk management, and AI-governance depth in tech, firm, or healthcare settings.

Main caution: Do not confuse high salary bands with easy access: only about 5% of sampled postings were entry level, only about 10% were remote, and among postings that stated a sponsorship policy, about 5% mentioned visa sponsorship.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 372 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Lewis Brisbois: 14 open roles
2. Open Door Legal: 13 open roles
3. Axiom: 10 open roles
4. OpenAI Foundation: 10 open roles
5. Anthropic Limited: 8 open roles
6. Ashurst Perkins Coie Group: 6 open roles
7. Kahana Feld: 6 open roles
8. Airwallex: 5 open roles
9. Fireworks AI, Inc.: 4 open roles
10. Kaplan Kirsch LLP: 4 open roles

Where the openings are

• San Francisco: 258
• Oakland: 22
• San Mateo: 14
• Walnut Creek: 14
• Berkeley: 13
• South San Francisco: 9
• San Rafael: 4
• San Francisco Bay Area: 3

Work arrangement

hybrid 202 (55%), on-site 128 (35%), remote 36 (10%)

Where the demand is

Openings are spread across a long tail rather than dominated by one buyer: over the last 90 days we observed more than 700 postings across more than 400 companies, and employer concentration in the sample was fragmented. The biggest pools sit in legal services at about 25%, software development at about 20%, law practice at about 15%, legal at about 15%, and technology at about 10%, which means this market is not just firms hiring lawyers; a sizable share sits inside product and platform companies. Recent local moves reinforce that pattern. Benesch added attorneys in intellectual-property/data-privacy and corporate practice, an AI-native San Francisco firm said it planned to hire attorneys for commercial-contract work, and a new Bay Area litigation boutique launched around artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and cybersecurity. Healthcare regulatory work is also alive: Hooper Lundy & Bookman added an attorney to deepen business, regulatory, and strategic advice for healthcare clients.

• Law firms and litigation (moderate): Traditional legal services and law practice together account for about 40% of sampled postings, with Ashurst Perkins Coie Group, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, Lewis Brisbois, and Wilshire Law Firm among the active employers.
• Tech, product, and AI-enabled legal work (high): Software development and technology account for about 30% of sampled postings, with Anthropic Limited among the active employers and local moves centered on AI-supported contracts, privacy, and cyber disputes.
• Healthcare and other regulated-industry advisory (moderate): This is smaller in visible volume, but local expansion at Hooper Lundy & Bookman and national demand signals around regulatory compliance and AI governance point to durable need in healthcare and other regulated environments.

Where to focus: Prioritize tech-adjacent in-house and specialist firm roles where legal judgment is tied to contracts, privacy, regulatory compliance, or AI governance.

Roles worth searching next

• Legal Operations Manager: AI-enabled workflow design, tooling, and commercial-contract operations are moving closer to the legal function, especially in in-house teams.
• Privacy Program Manager: Local hiring signals include data-privacy attorney additions and AI/cyber dispute work, so privacy sits very close to this market.
• AI Governance Program Manager: New California rules for lawyers' AI use and rising employer focus on AI governance make this a natural move for compliance and risk professionals.
• Regulatory Affairs Manager: Healthcare legal expansion and broad employer demand for regulatory depth support this path for candidates with sector knowledge.

What postings ask for

• California bar admission (table_stakes | immediate): It is the clearest formal screen in the local posting sample and remains the fastest way onto attorney and counsel tracks. Who: Practicing attorneys and recent law graduates aiming for counsel or firm roles.
• Regulatory compliance (table_stakes | immediate): It is one of the most-requested local hard skills and also appears in national employer guidance as a capability tied to stronger legal career outcomes. Who: Compliance managers, risk analysts, in-house counsel, and career switchers coming from regulated operations.
• Contract negotiation and CLM implementation (differentiator | immediate): Contract negotiation is a frequent local requirement, and national employer guidance calls out contract lifecycle management implementation as a pay-supporting capability. Who: Contracts managers, commercial counsel, legal ops candidates, and compliance professionals who work with procurement or sales.
• AI-assisted legal research and AI literacy (premium | near-term): AI fluency is becoming a core legal skill, 96% of surveyed senior legal leaders expect technology and AI literacy to grow in importance, and employers cite AI-assisted legal research as a differentiator. Who: Attorneys, paralegals, and legal operations candidates who want to stand out in firm or in-house roles.
• AI governance and oversight (premium | immediate): California's new attorney-AI law takes effect January 1, 2027, and compliance hiring signals increasingly rank AI governance and oversight among the most critical future skills. Who: In-house counsel, compliance leaders, privacy specialists, and policy-minded career switchers.
• eDiscovery, legal drafting, and case management (differentiator | near-term): Local postings still ask for legal drafting and case management, while national guidance highlights eDiscovery platforms as a compensation-supporting capability. Who: Paralegals, litigation support professionals, and junior candidates who need a concrete workflow edge.

Questions about this market

What do Legal, Compliance & Risk roles pay in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA?

Observed government wage data for the metro's legal occupations family shows a $159,680 median, $189,510 mean, $96,670 25th percentile, and $249,990 75th percentile in 2025. More recent posting-based signals center on about $168k to $230k locally, while California new openings average about $146,370 and national legal openings average about $131,402; those offered-salary figures come from posting samples, not metro wage medians. Bay Area legal pay is meaningfully above the national legal median of $102,500, but that premium has to carry one of the country's highest cost bases, with the local home price index up 2.2% year over year in July 2026.

Where is demand for Legal, Compliance & Risk roles in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA concentrated?

Openings are spread across a long tail rather than dominated by one buyer: over the last 90 days we observed more than 700 postings across more than 400 companies, and employer concentration in the sample was fragmented. The biggest pools sit in legal services at about 25%, software development at about 20%, law practice at about 15%, legal at about 15%, and technology at about 10%, which means this market is not just firms hiring lawyers; a sizable share sits inside product and platform companies. Recent local moves reinforce that pattern. Benesch added attorneys in intellectual-property/data-privacy and corporate practice, an AI-native San Francisco firm said it planned to hire attorneys for commercial-contract work, and a new Bay Area litigation boutique launched around artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and cybersecurity. Healthcare regulatory work is also alive: Hooper Lundy & Bookman added an attorney to deepen business, regulatory, and strategic advice for healthcare clients.

Which employers are hiring the most Legal, Compliance & Risk talent in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from Ororun (around 15 postings), Applied Methods Ltd (around 15 postings), Ashurst Perkins Coie Group (around 10 postings), Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP (around 10 postings), Anthropic Limited (around 10 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Legal, Compliance & Risk roles in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 10% are remote and 50% hybrid, with 35% 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 California openings by job title

• Software Engineer: 960 open roles statewide
• General Manager: 528 open roles statewide
• Project Manager: 392 open roles statewide
• Product Manager: 379 open roles statewide
• Program Manager: 326 open roles statewide
• Technical Program Manager: 265 open roles statewide
• Senior Software Engineer: 206 open roles statewide
• Staff Software Engineer: 156 open roles statewide
• Engineering Manager: 146 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 129 open roles statewide
• Associate Director: 92 open roles statewide
• Senior Product Manager: 84 open roles statewide

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• Kansas City, MO-KS

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