Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between bankruptcy paralegals and paralegals can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a bankruptcy paralegal and a paralegal. Additionally, a bankruptcy paralegal has an average salary of $55,485, which is higher than the $49,943 average annual salary of a paralegal.
The top three skills for a bankruptcy paralegal include pacer, litigation and debtor. The most important skills for a paralegal are litigation, legal research, and law firm.
| Bankruptcy Paralegal | Paralegal | |
| Yearly salary | $55,485 | $49,943 |
| Hourly rate | $26.68 | $24.01 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 7,259 | 5,177 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A Bankruptcy Paralegal assists lawyers and their clients through the bankruptcy process. Their primary duties include collecting and reviewing paperwork for petitions, drafting pleadings, and preparing all documents required by the bankruptcy court.
Paralegals are law firm or legal department employees who work on cases with lawyers. They handle different activities, usually administrative or clerical, such as organizing and maintaining files, updating records, and managing correspondences, among others. Paralegals also handle different activities directly related to active cases being worked on by lawyers in the firm or department. They assist lawyers on cases by preparing materials needed for trials, conducting legal research, verifying trial facts, helping during interviews, getting statements from those involved in the case, and creating presentation materials. Paralegals should have knowledge of laws and should be familiar with landmark cases.
Bankruptcy paralegals and paralegals have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Bankruptcy Paralegal | Paralegal | |
| Average salary | $55,485 | $49,943 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $102,000 | Between $35,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Arnall Golden Gregory |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between a bankruptcy paralegal and a paralegal in terms of educational background:
| Bankruptcy Paralegal | Paralegal | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Legal Support Services | Legal Support Services |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between bankruptcy paralegals' and paralegals' demographics:
| Bankruptcy Paralegal | Paralegal | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7% | Male, 22.4% Female, 77.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 5.6% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 5.7% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |