Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between assistant state attorneys and legal externs can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an assistant state attorney and a legal extern. Additionally, an assistant state attorney has an average salary of $82,255, which is higher than the $47,238 average annual salary of a legal extern.
The top three skills for an assistant state attorney include litigation, criminal cases and appeals. The most important skills for a legal extern are litigation, legal intern, and legal issues.
| Assistant State Attorney | Legal Extern | |
| Yearly salary | $82,255 | $47,238 |
| Hourly rate | $39.55 | $22.71 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 9,855 | 10,986 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An Assistant Staff Attorney performs a wide range of clerical and administrative work that requires knowledge of legal terms, documents, and procedures. They also communicate with clients to keep them informed on case progress.
Legal externs are law students who took the opportunity to do on-the-job training at a law firm. Instead of monetary compensation, they receive academic credits. Legal externs primarily engage in job shadowing. They are usually assigned mentors in the law firm, and they would shadow their mentors in their daily routines. Legal externs are exposed to the actual work done by lawyers. Legal externs are involved in cases, providing insights while building a solid case for their client, giving advice to clients, and representing clients under the supervision of the actual lawyers in the firm. They are usually not given administrative or clerical tasks since they are expected to do more tasks directly related to being a lawyer.
Assistant state attorneys and legal externs have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Assistant State Attorney | Legal Extern | |
| Average salary | $82,255 | $47,238 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $122,000 | Between $23,000 And $93,000 |
| Highest paying City | Oakland, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | State Attorney's Office | Jones Day |
| Best paying industry | Government | Professional |
There are a few differences between an assistant state attorney and a legal extern in terms of educational background:
| Assistant State Attorney | Legal Extern | |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Law | Law |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between assistant state attorneys' and legal externs' demographics:
| Assistant State Attorney | Legal Extern | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.1% Female, 45.9% | Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 75.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |