A2A
The term “corporate attorney” can mean any number of things, but generally people referencing attorneys at law firm mean “corporate & securities” or “mergers and acquisitions” attorneys when they say “corporate attorney.” These attorneys handle things like financings, corporate formation/structure, mergers/acquisitions from a structural deal standpoint. There are relatively few “corporate attorneys” doing this type of work in-house. At a company the size of, say Amazon – where I work, we have a handful of people handing securities filings, etc. and many more dealing with the day to day transactions and advise involved with delivering products and services to customers.
“In-house counsel” is more of a general term for all of the attorneys working inside of a company, though depending on the size of company they may or may not be specialized. For example, at a start-up you’d have a handful of attorneys who are jacks of all trades, masters of most. If you’re a tech start-up in particular, you want someone who is a bona fide technology transactions attorney (not just a corporate securities/M&A attorney who’s retooled themselves later in career and now claims the capability). If you’re a larger company you may have room for (and need) people who specialize in a given area, rather than hit across multiple areas, and can hire a handful of corporate securities/M&A specialists, compliance specialists, tax specialists, etc.