Judicial clerk vs principal law clerk

The differences between judicial clerks and principal law clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a principal law clerk has an average salary of $55,583, which is higher than the $43,142 average annual salary of a judicial clerk.

The top three skills for a judicial clerk include motion hearings, legal issues and domestic violence. The most important skills for a principal law clerk are litigation, settlement conferences, and legal issues.

Judicial clerk vs principal law clerk overview

	Judicial Clerk	Principal Law Clerk
Yearly salary	$43,142	$55,583
Hourly rate	$20.74	$26.72
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	66,362	106,314
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Doctoral Degree, 54%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	-	-

Judicial clerk vs principal law clerk salary

Judicial clerks and principal law clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Judicial Clerk	Principal Law Clerk
Average salary	$43,142	$55,583
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $70,000	Between $32,000 And $95,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between judicial clerk and principal law clerk education

There are a few differences between a judicial clerk and a principal law clerk in terms of educational background:

	Judicial Clerk	Principal Law Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Doctoral Degree, 54%
Most common major	Law	Law
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of Pennsylvania

Judicial clerk vs principal law clerk demographics

Here are the differences between judicial clerks' and principal law clerks' demographics:

	Judicial Clerk	Principal Law Clerk
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9%	Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 8.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 9.7% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 10.4% White, 53.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between judicial clerk and principal law clerk duties and responsibilities

Judicial clerk example responsibilities.

Demonstrate strong math skills in managing inmate s accounts and calmly and effectively deescalating outbursts of belligerent inmates.
Answer general questions and concerns regarding probate cases.
Compile accurate information from other departments in order to answer complaints, interrogatories and other legal documents on a timely basis.
Receive civil claims, small claims and evictions and follow the processing of them to completions and then collection status.
Answer inquiries for evictions and foreclosure materials and provides procedural information to clients upon request.

Principal law clerk example responsibilities.

Represent clients in commercial arbitration.
Analyze petitions for allowance of appeal, appellate briefs, and intermediate appellate opinions in preparing for disposition of discretionary appeals.
Develop presentations for state police officers to reinforce drunk driving and highway safety initiatives via PowerPoint.

Judicial clerk vs principal law clerk skills

Common judicial clerk skills

Motion Hearings, 11%
Legal Issues, 10%
Domestic Violence, 7%
Court Orders, 5%
Oral Arguments, 5%
Court Proceedings, 5%

Common principal law clerk skills

Litigation, 36%
Settlement Conferences, 26%
Legal Issues, 14%
Legal Research, 13%
Real Estate, 11%

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Judicial Clerk
Judicial Clerk vs Principal Law Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

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