What is a Legal Clerk?

A legal clerk is a member of a law firm who works on different administrative activities on a daily basis. Legal clerks primarily conduct research on legal cases related to the ones that the firm is currently handling. They also prepare memoranda, drafts of legal documents, case materials, and office orders.

They may also do proofreading and editing of legal documents before publishing. In addition, they may be assigned to communicate with clients, provide updates on cases, and communicate the schedule of hearings. When assigned to assist in specific cases, legal clerks are expected to be familiar with the procedure of handling that particular type of case. They should also provide administrative support throughout the proceedings.

To become a legal clerk, an individual must have a bachelor's degree, pass the LSAT, go to law school, and obtain a law degree. They may choose to further specialize in a specific topic or to get a graduate degree in law. Given the administrative nature of the work, legal clerks are usually fresh law school graduates who are new at a law firm.

What Does a Legal Clerk Do

There are certain skills that many legal clerks have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed computer skills, research skills and communication skills.

Learn more about what a Legal Clerk does

How To Become a Legal Clerk

If you're interested in becoming a legal clerk, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 55.0% of legal clerks have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.4% of legal clerks have master's degrees. Even though most legal clerks have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Legal Clerk

Top Legal Clerk Jobs Near You

Legal Clerk Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a legal clerk can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as attorney, progress to a title such as partner and then eventually end up with the title co-owner.

Average Salary for a Legal Clerk

Legal Clerks in America make an average salary of $35,152 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $49,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $24,000 per year.

Average Legal Clerk Salary

$35,152 Yearly

$16.90 hourly

$24,00010%

$35,000Median

$49,00090%

See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Legal Clerk

The role of a legal clerk includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general legal clerk responsibilities:

Consulting prescribed sources of information for facts relating to matters of interest to the program reviewing documents to extract selected data
Collect legal documents in preparation for each file to be checked
Including but not limited to the following: maintain

There are several types of legal clerk, including:

Clerk

Role:

Clerks have a lot of administrative roles in their day-to-day job responsibilities. From answering the phone to typing up documents, and even filing and speaking with clients, clerks have a lot on their shoulders.

For the most part, you only need to graduate from high school before becoming a clerk but some clerk positions may require you to complete a certification course beforehand. The majority of your knowledge of the job will come from the on-the-job training you'll be taken through.

You may not have a lot of stress in your day or you could feel a lot of stress, it really depends on what industry you choose to start your career in. Speaking of, you have a lot of options. On the plus side, you'll never work more than 40 hours a week so you can leave work at the office and enjoy your time off.

Average Salary: $31,163
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Paralegal

Role:

A paralegal is in charge of substantive legal work. Typically, they serve lawyers who are so busy building a case that they need help sorting out all of the legal work. That's where you come in.

Paralegals take pride in their responsibilities by administering their knowledge of the law and legal procedures. It can be a great thing to have a paralegal on the case because the law will determine what direction a lawyer may swing a case.

While you definitely need a working knowledge of what the law is, you really only need to obtain an associate's degree for this line of work. Sure, you could probably spend your entire life going through and memorizing every single law out there, but laws change all the time so chances are you're going to have to look it up anyway.

Average Salary: $49,943
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Legal Secretary

Role:

A Legal Secretary assists lawyers and helps them to prepare and arrange legal documents. They are trained and highly knowledgeable in legal processes and the documentation of legal cases, and they have an important function in the day-to-day life of a lawyer's office.

They have a wide range of responsibilities, from answering phones, scheduling appointments, and taking messages to preparing presentations, proofreading pleas and briefs, and preparing drafts for correspondence. They manage the documentation of legal cases, as well. They work in close contact with the attorneys, clients, witnesses, and courtroom staff.

To be a successful legal secretary, you need to be organized and constantly on your toes. You need to be able to multitask and perform under pressure, coordinating the execution of various tasks simultaneously. Being assertive and energetic is a must but, as you will interact with many different kinds of people, patience and understanding are essential qualities for you as well.

Average Salary: $41,725
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Legal Clerk Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active legal clerk jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where legal clerks earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Legal Clerk Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	5,004	$39,132
2	Texas	2,509	$31,851
3	Florida	2,142	$28,574
4	New York	1,826	$45,155
5	Pennsylvania	1,353	$39,859
6	Illinois	1,290	$37,701
7	Ohio	1,253	$31,356
8	Michigan	1,110	$35,785
9	Washington	1,102	$43,385
10	Georgia	1,066	$30,629
11	North Carolina	972	$34,639
12	Virginia	929	$28,080
13	Massachusetts	921	$37,245
14	Indiana	861	$26,351
15	Minnesota	858	$40,998
16	Tennessee	812	$30,441
17	Missouri	790	$30,044
18	Wisconsin	764	$31,863
19	Colorado	743	$36,663
20	Maryland	609	$32,604
21	Connecticut	488	$40,611
22	Kentucky	488	$32,271
23	Kansas	482	$30,777
24	Utah	442	$35,053
25	South Carolina	426	$25,408
26	New Jersey	353	$43,151
27	Oklahoma	302	$29,223
28	Nebraska	276	$34,455
29	Alabama	272	$30,389
30	Iowa	268	$32,300
31	Louisiana	233	$28,686
32	Idaho	204	$34,387
33	Mississippi	204	$32,740
34	New Mexico	199	$30,199
35	Arkansas	199	$28,030
36	Oregon	152	$39,510
37	West Virginia	150	$35,577
38	Delaware	143	$38,140
39	Arizona	141	$30,390
40	South Dakota	137	$35,778
41	New Hampshire	129	$40,745
42	Alaska	120	$41,238
43	Rhode Island	100	$35,768
44	Vermont	87	$33,664
45	Hawaii	86	$36,695
46	Maine	85	$31,784
47	North Dakota	77	$34,277
48	Wyoming	73	$29,391
49	Nevada	68	$36,155
50	Montana	22	$32,808

Legal Clerk Education

Legal Clerk Majors

Law

17.1 %

Business

15.5 %

Political Science

13.5 %

Legal Clerk Degrees

Admissions

Most Popular Majors

Accounting

Psychology

Criminal Justice

Political Science

Communication

Top Skills For a Legal Clerk

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 13.0% of legal clerks listed litigation on their resume, but soft skills such as computer skills and research skills are important as well.

Litigation, 13.0%

Legal Correspondence, 8.6%

Subpoenas, 6.7%

Legal Research, 5.6%

Trial Preparation, 5.5%

Other Skills, 60.6%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Legal Clerk Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Legal Clerk templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Legal Clerk resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Legal Clerk Demographics

Legal Clerk Gender Distribution

Female

60%

Male

40%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among legal clerks, 60.1% of them are women, while 39.9% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among legal clerks is White, which makes up 59.4% of all legal clerks.

The most common foreign language among legal clerks is Spanish at 55.7%.

Online Courses For Legal Clerk That You May Like

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1. Legal Contracts and Agreements for Entrepreneurs

This course focuses on how legal contracts may impact or impede the success of aspiring and active entrepreneurs. We explore a wide variety of legal considerations, including: * What types of legal contracts and agreements are appropriate for which entrepreneurial activities and actions? * What is the role of torts, liability, and negligence in creating and managing products and services? * How should contracts and sales agreements be created, evaluated, and negotiated? * What legal...

See More on Coursera

2. Legal Tech and the Digital Transformation of Law

The digital revolution changed the way we communicate and trade. Now, it is coming into the world of law. This program will give you a broad overview of the main trends that are affecting the legal industry: - The birth of the legal tech market and the application of technology in law. - The role of artificial intelligence in the automation of the work of lawyers. - Blockchain technology and its impact on the way we sign and execute contracts. - Initiatives to ensure access to justice through...

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3. Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship

By its nature, the law touches on many aspects of entrepreneurship, making it an applicable and versatile topic of study. For aspiring entrepreneurs, it's important to understand how to form the business, work with the initial customers, and hire. For active entrepreneurs, there are critical considerations on employment law, operating policies, and managing contracts. For everyone, the role that the law plays in managing the company, and its associated risks, must be properly understood to...

See More on Coursera

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Best States For a Legal Clerk

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a legal clerk. The best states for people in this position are New York, Washington, New Jersey, and Alaska. Legal clerks make the most in New York with an average salary of $45,155. Whereas in Washington and New Jersey, they would average $43,385 and $43,151, respectively. While legal clerks would only make an average of $41,238 in Alaska, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Legal Clerk Jobs: 1,102

Highest 10% Earn:

$59,000

Location Quotient:

1.28

$43,385

Avg. Salary

View 1,102 Legal Clerk Jobs In WA

2. New York

Total Legal Clerk Jobs: 1,826

Highest 10% Earn:

$66,000

Location Quotient:

1.21

$45,155

Avg. Salary

View 1,826 Legal Clerk Jobs In NY

3. Connecticut

Total Legal Clerk Jobs: 488

Highest 10% Earn:

$59,000

Location Quotient:

1.25

$40,611

Avg. Salary

View 488 Legal Clerk Jobs In CT

Full List Of Best States For Legal Clerks

How Do Legal Clerk Rate Their Jobs?

Top Legal Clerk Employers

Most Common Employers For Legal Clerk

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Skadden	$50,466	$24.26	9
2	United States Department of Justice	$42,431	$20.40	8
3	United States Courts	$41,800	$20.10	8
4	Baker Botts	$39,849	$19.16	10
5	State Attorney's Office	$39,663	$19.07	7
6	Conn's	$39,212	$18.85	16
7	Wells Fargo	$38,912	$18.71	13
8	PRA Group Careers	$38,868	$18.69	13
9	Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner	$38,372	$18.45	11
10	Franklin Service	$37,766	$18.16	13

Legal Clerk Videos

The Role of the Supreme Court Law Clerk

Seneca College - Law Clerk

What is a Law Clerk? NY Negligence Trial Attorney Gerry Oginski Explains

Updated February 6, 2023

What is a Legal Clerk?

What Does a Legal Clerk Do

How To Become a Legal Clerk

Legal Clerk Career Paths

Top Careers Before Legal Clerk

Top Careers After Legal Clerk

Recent Job Searches

Average Salary for a Legal Clerk

Roles and Types of Legal Clerk

Clerk

Paralegal

Legal Secretary

States With The Most Legal Clerk Jobs

Number Of Legal Clerk Jobs By State

Legal Clerk Education

Legal Clerk Majors

Legal Clerk Degrees

Top Colleges for Legal Clerks

1. University of Pennsylvania

2. Texas Wesleyan University

3. Boston University

4. Northwestern University

5. Stanford University

6. Hamline University

7. Harvard University

8. George Washington University, The

9. Touro College

10. Pennsylvania State University

Top Skills For a Legal Clerk

Choose From 10+ Customizable Legal Clerk Resume templates

Legal Clerk Demographics

Legal Clerk Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Legal Clerk That You May Like

Best States For a Legal Clerk

How Do Legal Clerk Rate Their Jobs?

Top Legal Clerk Employers

Most Common Employers For Legal Clerk

Legal Clerk Videos

Legal Clerk Related Careers

Legal Clerk Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs