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Law clerk vs attorney at law

The differences between law clerks and attorneys at law can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an attorney at law has an average salary of $108,018, which is higher than the $55,916 average annual salary of a law clerk.

The top three skills for a law clerk include litigation, legal issues and legal memos. The most important skills for an attorney at law are litigation, law firm, and legal research.

Law clerk vs attorney at law overview

Law ClerkAttorney At Law
Yearly salary$55,916$108,018
Hourly rate$26.88$51.93
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs75,0147,025
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Doctoral Degree, 52%
Average age4146
Years of experience-4

What does a law clerk do?

Law clerks are employees in a legal firm who handle clerical tasks for the office. They handle the office's official phone lines, answering incoming calls, and making outgoing calls. They also field office correspondence, often receiving incoming mail and distributing them to their addressees. They manage office documents and ensure that they are correctly filed and labeled in their respective storage bins. Law clerks help make office life more comfortable because they make sure that the office is running well. They also manage appointments and office calendars.

What does an attorney at law do?

An Attorney at Law is responsible for preparing and examining contracts involving leases, licenses, purchases, sales, etc. They advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, or legal rights and obligations.

Law clerk vs attorney at law salary

Law clerks and attorneys at law have different pay scales, as shown below.

Law ClerkAttorney At Law
Average salary$55,916$108,018
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $114,000Between $69,000 And $166,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCWashington, DC
Highest paying stateNew YorkCalifornia
Best paying companyHughes Hubbard & ReedWhite and Williams
Best paying industryProfessionalRetail

Differences between law clerk and attorney at law education

There are a few differences between a law clerk and an attorney at law in terms of educational background:

Law ClerkAttorney At Law
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Doctoral Degree, 52%
Most common majorLawLaw
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Law clerk vs attorney at law demographics

Here are the differences between law clerks' and attorneys at law' demographics:

Law ClerkAttorney At Law
Average age4146
Gender ratioMale, 52.5% Female, 47.5%Male, 54.6% Female, 45.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 10.3% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 75.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage13%10%

Differences between law clerk and attorney at law duties and responsibilities

Law clerk example responsibilities.

  • Hire specifically to perform legal research and write memorandums on probate cases, particularly those involving litigation.
  • Conduct legal research, draft various legal documents, including complaints, social security/disability appeals, settlement demand letters and subpoenas.
  • Research and draft affirmations in support, arbitration contentions, discovery responses, and attorney correspondence for insurance fraud litigation firm.
  • Value securities by performing company valuations utilizing DCF and multiples methods.
  • Develop valuation ranges using precedent transaction, comparable company, and DCF analyses
  • Utilize LexisNexis and WestlawNext search databases to conduct legal research and data analysis.
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Attorney at law example responsibilities.

  • Manage a civil practice focuse primarily on representing claimants in securities arbitration proceedings.
  • Support tort, real estate, probate, appellate, and business litigation with outside counsel in California.
  • Sole practice of law in the areas of corporate, juvenile matters, probate, real estate, securities and taxation.
  • File garnishment actions; defend tenants, landlords and assort other parties in proceedings in small claims and landlord tenant courts.
  • Document review for internal investigation of FDA filing practices
  • Advise technical, scientific and regulatory personnel on FDA legal requirements.
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Law clerk vs attorney at law skills

Common law clerk skills
  • Litigation, 16%
  • Legal Issues, 7%
  • Legal Memos, 7%
  • Pre-Trial Motions, 6%
  • Interrogatories, 4%
  • Summary Judgment, 3%
Common attorney at law skills
  • Litigation, 23%
  • Law Firm, 10%
  • Legal Research, 7%
  • Juris, 4%
  • Real Estate Transactions, 3%
  • Trial Preparation, 3%