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Law clerk vs court clerk

The differences between law clerks and court clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a law clerk has an average salary of $55,916, which is higher than the $36,328 average annual salary of a court clerk.

The top three skills for a law clerk include litigation, legal issues and legal memos. The most important skills for a court clerk are data entry, customer service, and subpoenas.

Law clerk vs court clerk overview

Law ClerkCourt Clerk
Yearly salary$55,916$36,328
Hourly rate$26.88$17.47
Growth rate10%-
Number of jobs75,01469,560
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age4149
Years of experience--

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 a court clerk do?

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.

Law clerk vs court clerk salary

Law clerks and court clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

Law ClerkCourt Clerk
Average salary$55,916$36,328
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $114,000Between $29,000 And $45,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCEdmonds, WA
Highest paying stateNew YorkWashington
Best paying companyHughes Hubbard & ReedWayne County, Michigan
Best paying industryProfessionalGovernment

Differences between law clerk and court clerk education

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

Law ClerkCourt Clerk
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common majorLawBusiness
Most common collegeStanford University-

Law clerk vs court clerk demographics

Here are the differences between law clerks' and court clerks' demographics:

Law ClerkCourt Clerk
Average age4149
Gender ratioMale, 52.5% Female, 47.5%Male, 17.0% Female, 83.0%
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, 10.8% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 4.1% White, 59.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage13%10%

Differences between law clerk and court clerk 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.
  • Show more

Court clerk example responsibilities.

  • Manage operations and LAN, plus data interchange with other agencies.
  • Receive and record payments of fees or fines, process notary commissions, order files and purge old files for achieves.
  • Answer public inquiries in terms of judicial proceedings, trial dates and witness fees along with preparing probation orders and summonses.
  • Maintain report for NCIC reports.
  • Count ballots and sign summons when necessary.
  • Handle daily operations of filing child support summons.
  • Show more

Law clerk vs court clerk skills

Common law clerk skills
  • Litigation, 16%
  • Legal Issues, 7%
  • Legal Memos, 7%
  • Pre-Trial Motions, 6%
  • Interrogatories, 4%
  • Summary Judgment, 3%
Common court clerk skills
  • Data Entry, 10%
  • Customer Service, 9%
  • Subpoenas, 5%
  • Court Dates, 5%
  • Bench Warrants, 4%
  • Court Orders, 4%