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The differences between legal assistants and assistants 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 assistant, becoming an assistant takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a legal assistant has an average salary of $42,387, which is higher than the $37,363 average annual salary of an assistant.
The top three skills for a legal assistant include litigation, legal correspondence and discovery responses. The most important skills for an assistant are patients, customer service, and patient care.
| Legal Assistant | Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $42,387 | $37,363 |
| Hourly rate | $20.38 | $17.96 |
| Growth rate | 14% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 9,560 | 557,900 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 46 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 2 |
Legal assistants are responsible for doing most of the administrative or clerical needs of a lawyer. They support lawyers by preparing documents for hearings or trials, conducting research for legal cases, organizing files and records, managing schedules, manning phone lines, communicating with legal clients, documenting meeting minutes, and setting up appointments. It is important for legal assistants to have a basic knowledge of laws and the judiciary system so that they can provide better support to lawyers. They should also be detail-oriented, organized, and excellent communicators.
An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.
Legal assistants and assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Assistant | Assistant | |
| Average salary | $42,387 | $37,363 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $58,000 | Between $16,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | California | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Roberts Markel Weinberg Butler Hailey Pc | Latham & Watkins |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Education |
There are a few differences between a legal assistant and an assistant in terms of educational background:
| Legal Assistant | Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Legal Support Services | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between legal assistants' and assistants' demographics:
| Legal Assistant | Assistant | |
| Average age | 46 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6% | Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 5.4% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 6% |