Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between court clerks and legal clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a court clerk has an average salary of $36,328, which is higher than the $35,152 average annual salary of a legal clerk.
The top three skills for a court clerk include data entry, customer service and subpoenas. The most important skills for a legal clerk are litigation, legal correspondence, and subpoenas.
| Court Clerk | Legal Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $36,328 | $35,152 |
| Hourly rate | $17.47 | $16.90 |
| Growth rate | - | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 69,560 | 74,069 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 39% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 49 | 46 |
| Years of experience | - | 12 |
A court clerk is responsible for supporting court procedures and civil justice systems by performing administrative and clerical duties for law enforcement personnel and court officers. Court clerks perform data processing procedures, sorting documents, storing court records, maintaining confidentiality on clients' information, managing internal communications, scheduling meetings, and assisting in court investigations. They also respond to the visitors' inquiries and concerns, verify their appointments, and direct them to the appropriate personnel and department. A court clerk must be highly communicative and organizational, especially when maintaining records during court procedures and processing court fines.
A legal clerk is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to legal offices and organizations to ensure smooth legal business operations. Legal clerks sort and distribute documents to the appropriate personnel, update information on the database, schedule appointments, respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, and document meeting objectives. They may also coordinate with other offices and institutions to acquire files and research data according to the needs of the managing department. A legal clerk must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in monitoring business transactions and submitting reports timely and accurately.
Court clerks and legal clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Court Clerk | Legal Clerk | |
| Average salary | $36,328 | $35,152 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $45,000 | Between $24,000 And $49,000 |
| Highest paying City | Edmonds, WA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New York |
| Best paying company | Wayne County, Michigan | Diodes Incorporated |
| Best paying industry | Government | Professional |
There are a few differences between a court clerk and a legal clerk in terms of educational background:
| Court Clerk | Legal Clerk | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 39% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Business | Law |
| Most common college | - | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between court clerks' and legal clerks' demographics:
| Court Clerk | Legal Clerk | |
| Average age | 49 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 17.0% Female, 83.0% | Male, 39.9% Female, 60.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 4.1% White, 59.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.8% Asian, 5.4% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 9% |