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The differences between legal administrators and legal secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a legal administrator, becoming a legal secretary takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a legal administrator has an average salary of $47,198, which is higher than the $41,725 average annual salary of a legal secretary.
The top three skills for a legal administrator include veterans, litigation and powerpoint. The most important skills for a legal secretary are litigation, legal correspondence, and dictation.
| Legal Administrator | Legal Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $47,198 | $41,725 |
| Hourly rate | $22.69 | $20.06 |
| Growth rate | 14% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 56,419 | 13,182 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Average age | 46 | 54 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 4 |
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.
Legal secretaries are employees in a law firm who are responsible for many administrative tasks. They handle the tasks such as filing and keeping records, ensuring that all documents are stored properly, and update contact information data and other essential office databases. They must also be knowledgeable on the law because they are, at times, assigned to draw up legal documents such as motions and subpoenas, conduct legal research, and write up other important office memoranda. Legal secretaries should be organized, trustworthy, and level-headed.
Legal administrators and legal secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Administrator | Legal Secretary | |
| Average salary | $47,198 | $41,725 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $66,000 | Between $28,000 And $60,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Ropes & Gray | Kane Russell Coleman Logan |
| Best paying industry | Government | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal administrator and a legal secretary in terms of educational background:
| Legal Administrator | Legal Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Bentley University |
Here are the differences between legal administrators' and legal secretaries' demographics:
| Legal Administrator | Legal Secretary | |
| Average age | 46 | 54 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 28.2% Female, 71.8% | Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8% |
| 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, 7.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 2.7% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 15% |