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The differences between law clerks and senior legal assistants 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 $51,102 average annual salary of a senior legal assistant.
The top three skills for a law clerk include litigation, legal issues and legal memos. The most important skills for a senior legal assistant are litigation, legal research, and legal correspondence.
| Law Clerk | Senior Legal Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $55,916 | $51,102 |
| Hourly rate | $26.88 | $24.57 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 75,014 | 9,152 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| 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.
Senior legal assistants are responsible for managing junior-level assistants. They also support lawyers with various legal tasks such as conducting legal research, drafting documents, and hearing trials. These assistants must work with attorneys and clients to review various legal documents to ensure their accuracy and completeness. They gather documents for attorneys and prepare witnesses scheduled for court hearings. Senior legal assistants must also arrange the delivery of subpoenas while preparing the required affidavit of service.
Law clerks and senior legal assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Law Clerk | Senior Legal Assistant | |
| Average salary | $55,916 | $51,102 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $114,000 | Between $36,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | Pennsylvania |
| Best paying company | Hughes Hubbard & Reed | |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a law clerk and a senior legal assistant in terms of educational background:
| Law Clerk | Senior Legal Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Law | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between law clerks' and senior legal assistants' demographics:
| Law Clerk | Senior Legal Assistant | |
| Average age | 41 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.5% Female, 47.5% | Male, 16.1% Female, 83.9% |
| 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% |