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The differences between justices and criminal justice lawyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a justice and a criminal justice lawyer. Additionally, a justice has an average salary of $53,502, which is higher than the $49,977 average annual salary of a criminal justice lawyer.
The top three skills for a justice include customer service, public safety and direct supervision. The most important skills for a criminal justice lawyer are criminal justice, semester, and public safety.
| Justice | Criminal Justice Lawyer | |
| Yearly salary | $53,502 | $49,977 |
| Hourly rate | $25.72 | $24.03 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 1,014 | 824 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Justices are court officials in charge of making the final decision of cases on the Supreme Court and appeals courts. They can be appointed or elected by the higher court officials. While they do not hold trials, they review documentation that comes from lower courts before decision making. They hear oral argumentation on certain cases from attorneys. Full court justices decide on combining prominent or more complex cases. They also issue a well-written legal opinion.
A criminal justice lawyer is responsible for representing clients in court with criminal charges and defends them according to legal requirements and procedures. Criminal justice lawyers analyze the case by undergoing in-depth research and investigation that would support settlement claims. They reference laws and state regulations to identify the clients' options for case resolution. A criminal justice lawyer must have extensive knowledge of the legal industry, as well as possessing excellent critical-thinking skills to strategize appeals and negotiate pleas on trials.
Justices and criminal justice lawyers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Justice | Criminal Justice Lawyer | |
| Average salary | $53,502 | $49,977 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $85,000 | Between $32,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fairbanks, AK | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | California |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Indiana University of Pennsylvania |
| Best paying industry | Government | Professional |
There are a few differences between a justice and a criminal justice lawyer in terms of educational background:
| Justice | Criminal Justice Lawyer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Most common major | Criminal Justice | Criminal Justice |
| Most common college | Pennsylvania State University | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Here are the differences between justices' and criminal justice lawyers' demographics:
| Justice | Criminal Justice Lawyer | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9% | Male, 48.9% Female, 51.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 11.2% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 75.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 10% |