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The differences between law clerks and lawyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lawyer has an average salary of $115,808, 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 a lawyer are litigation, law firm, and legal issues.
| Law Clerk | Lawyer | |
| Yearly salary | $55,916 | $115,808 |
| Hourly rate | $26.88 | $55.68 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 75,014 | 2,897 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 41 | 46 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
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.
A lawyer is a legal practitioner who specializes in understanding and interpreting laws and other legal matters. Their responsibilities revolve around providing legal counseling and advice, representing clients in different kinds of court proceedings, conducting research, collecting evidence, and coordinating with various experts. A lawyer must also manage and oversee the performance of assistants, paralegals, and other team members. Furthermore, there are instances when a lawyer must draft or manage documents such as contracts, trusts, deeds, and wills, assisting clients as needed.
Law clerks and lawyers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Law Clerk | Lawyer | |
| Average salary | $55,916 | $115,808 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $114,000 | Between $64,000 And $208,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Hughes Hubbard & Reed | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough |
| Best paying industry | Professional | - |
There are a few differences between a law clerk and a lawyer in terms of educational background:
| Law Clerk | Lawyer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Law | Law |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between law clerks' and lawyers' demographics:
| Law Clerk | Lawyer | |
| Average age | 41 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.5% Female, 47.5% | Male, 48.5% Female, 51.5% |
| Race ratio | Black 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, 5.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 76.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 10% |