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The differences between legal clerks and attorney law clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an attorney law clerk has an average salary of $112,527, which is higher than the $35,152 average annual salary of a legal clerk.
The top three skills for a legal clerk include litigation, legal correspondence and subpoenas. The most important skills for an attorney law clerk are litigation, discovery responses, and settlement agreements.
| Legal Clerk | Attorney Law Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $35,152 | $112,527 |
| Hourly rate | $16.90 | $54.10 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 74,069 | 72,641 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Doctoral Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 46 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 12 | - |
A legal clerk is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to legal offices and organizations to ensure smooth legal business operations. Legal clerks sort and distribute documents to the appropriate personnel, update information on the database, schedule appointments, respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, and document meeting objectives. They may also coordinate with other offices and institutions to acquire files and research data according to the needs of the managing department. A legal clerk must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in monitoring business transactions and submitting reports timely and accurately.
An Attorney Law Clerk helps attorneys by assembling and organizing information for legal documents. They research and analyze law sources to prepare drafts of briefs or arguments for review and approval.
Legal clerks and attorney law clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Clerk | Attorney Law Clerk | |
| Average salary | $35,152 | $112,527 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $49,000 | Between $72,000 And $174,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Diodes Incorporated | Reed Smith |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal clerk and an attorney law clerk in terms of educational background:
| Legal Clerk | Attorney Law Clerk | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Doctoral Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Law | Law |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal clerks' and attorney law clerks' demographics:
| Legal Clerk | Attorney Law Clerk | |
| Average age | 46 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 39.9% Female, 60.1% | Male, 53.5% Female, 46.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.8% Asian, 5.4% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 8.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 10.3% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 13% |