Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between legal administrators and contractor-paralegals can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a legal administrator and a contractor-paralegal. Additionally, a contractor-paralegal has an average salary of $60,686, which is higher than the $47,198 average annual salary of a legal administrator.
The top three skills for a legal administrator include veterans, litigation and powerpoint. The most important skills for a contractor-paralegal are litigation, legal research, and discovery responses.
| Legal Administrator | Contractor-Paralegal | |
| Yearly salary | $47,198 | $60,686 |
| Hourly rate | $22.69 | $29.18 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 56,419 | 15,609 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
The job of legal administrative assistants is to provide support to lawyers and paralegals. They typically perform legal research, manage schedules, and draft legal-related documents. Other duties include interpreting laws, regulations, and rulings in legal documents, obtaining information from other agencies or organizations, and preparing management and legal reports. In addition, legal administrative assistants are responsible for updating and maintaining databases and ensuring to provide effective administrative assistance. They are also expected to schedule client meetings and court hearings.
A Contractor-Paralegal works for a law firm or corporate legal department for a specified amount of time, or for a specified task. They can be specialized in the entertainment industry or in providing services to healthcare companies and insurance providers.
Legal administrators and contractor-paralegals have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Administrator | Contractor-Paralegal | |
| Average salary | $47,198 | $60,686 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $66,000 | Between $37,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Camarillo, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Ropes & Gray | SeaSpine |
| Best paying industry | Government | Finance |
There are a few differences between a legal administrator and a contractor-paralegal in terms of educational background:
| Legal Administrator | Contractor-Paralegal | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Most common major | Business | Legal Support Services |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between legal administrators' and contractor-paralegals' demographics:
| Legal Administrator | Contractor-Paralegal | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 28.2% Female, 71.8% | Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 5.7% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 5.8% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |