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The differences between executive legal assistants and executive administrative assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become an executive legal assistant, becoming an executive administrative assistant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an executive legal assistant has an average salary of $53,442, which is higher than the $44,665 average annual salary of an executive administrative assistant.
The top three skills for an executive legal assistant include powerpoint, expense reports and litigation. The most important skills for an executive administrative assistant are powerpoint, customer service, and phone calls.
| Executive Legal Assistant | Executive Administrative Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $53,442 | $44,665 |
| Hourly rate | $25.69 | $21.47 |
| Growth rate | 14% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 72,148 | 101,940 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 46 | 49 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 4 |
An Executive Legal Assistant provides comprehensive support to lawyers and legal offices. They start as entry-level assistants before specializing in a field after a few years with experience; litigation, criminal law, family law, international law. Their duties include performing legal research by gathering case information for presentation, writing legal reports based on research and interviews, scheduling meetings, organizing travel arrangements, and organizing documentation for easy accessibility. An Executive Legal Assistant must be well organized, analytical research skills, and experience in case management. They typically spend long work hours spent in libraries and offices, requiring occasional travel.
An executive administrative assistant is responsible for administering management support to the executive, especially on performing various administrative and clerical tasks. Executive administrative assistants' duties include receiving calls and responding to email queries, keeping accurate meeting records, managing internal and external travels and appointments, coordinating with company events, writing reports, and providing recommendations to improve the business operations. An executive administrative assistant must have comprehensive knowledge with task management tools and systems to ensure work accuracy and efficiency. This role also requires excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to support the management's daily operations.
Executive legal assistants and executive administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Executive Legal Assistant | Executive Administrative Assistant | |
| Average salary | $53,442 | $44,665 |
| Salary range | Between $37,000 And $75,000 | Between $31,000 And $62,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | PayPal | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between an executive legal assistant and an executive administrative assistant in terms of educational background:
| Executive Legal Assistant | Executive Administrative Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between executive legal assistants' and executive administrative assistants' demographics:
| Executive Legal Assistant | Executive Administrative Assistant | |
| Average age | 46 | 49 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 8.7% Female, 91.3% | Male, 8.3% Female, 91.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 5.4% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 10% |