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The differences between legal assistants and legal externs 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 a legal extern takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a legal extern has an average salary of $47,238, which is higher than the $42,387 average annual salary of a legal assistant.
The top three skills for a legal assistant include litigation, legal correspondence and discovery responses. The most important skills for a legal extern are litigation, legal intern, and legal issues.
| Legal Assistant | Legal Extern | |
| Yearly salary | $42,387 | $47,238 |
| Hourly rate | $20.38 | $22.71 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 9,560 | 10,986 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 4 |
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.
Legal externs are law students who took the opportunity to do on-the-job training at a law firm. Instead of monetary compensation, they receive academic credits. Legal externs primarily engage in job shadowing. They are usually assigned mentors in the law firm, and they would shadow their mentors in their daily routines. Legal externs are exposed to the actual work done by lawyers. Legal externs are involved in cases, providing insights while building a solid case for their client, giving advice to clients, and representing clients under the supervision of the actual lawyers in the firm. They are usually not given administrative or clerical tasks since they are expected to do more tasks directly related to being a lawyer.
Legal assistants and legal externs have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Assistant | Legal Extern | |
| Average salary | $42,387 | $47,238 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $58,000 | Between $23,000 And $93,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Roberts Markel Weinberg Butler Hailey Pc | Jones Day |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal assistant and a legal extern in terms of educational background:
| Legal Assistant | Legal Extern | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Legal Support Services | Law |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal assistants' and legal externs' demographics:
| Legal Assistant | Legal Extern | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6% | Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0% |
| 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, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 10% |