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The differences between law clerks and legal 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 $35,152 average annual salary of a legal clerk.
The top three skills for a law clerk include litigation, legal issues and legal memos. The most important skills for a legal clerk are litigation, legal correspondence, and subpoenas.
| Law Clerk | Legal Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $55,916 | $35,152 |
| Hourly rate | $26.88 | $16.90 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 75,014 | 74,069 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 41 | 46 |
| Years of experience | - | 12 |
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 legal clerk is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to legal offices and organizations to ensure smooth legal business operations. Legal clerks sort and distribute documents to the appropriate personnel, update information on the database, schedule appointments, respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, and document meeting objectives. They may also coordinate with other offices and institutions to acquire files and research data according to the needs of the managing department. A legal clerk must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in monitoring business transactions and submitting reports timely and accurately.
Law clerks and legal clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Law Clerk | Legal Clerk | |
| Average salary | $55,916 | $35,152 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $114,000 | Between $24,000 And $49,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Hughes Hubbard & Reed | Diodes Incorporated |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a law clerk and a legal clerk in terms of educational background:
| Law Clerk | Legal Clerk | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Law | Law |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between law clerks' and legal clerks' demographics:
| Law Clerk | Legal Clerk | |
| Average age | 41 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.5% Female, 47.5% | Male, 39.9% Female, 60.1% |
| 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, 8.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.8% Asian, 5.4% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 9% |