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The differences between legal investigators and legal administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a legal investigator, becoming a legal administrator takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a legal investigator has an average salary of $72,914, which is higher than the $47,198 average annual salary of a legal administrator.
The top three skills for a legal investigator include investigative reports, litigation and legal investigations. The most important skills for a legal administrator are veterans, litigation, and powerpoint.
| Legal Investigator | Legal Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $72,914 | $47,198 |
| Hourly rate | $35.05 | $22.69 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 9,582 | 56,419 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
Legal investigators are professionals tasked with providing research, investigative services, and surveillance to the public, insurance companies, financial institutions, law firms, banks, and even local law enforcement agencies. They use methods and tools to uncover facts about financial, personal, and legal matters. This type of investigator must pay attention to analyzing details and evidence, but it will be difficult to know to begin. There is no need for formal education to be a legal investigator, one must take a legal investigator certificate course.
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 investigators and legal administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Investigator | Legal Administrator | |
| Average salary | $72,914 | $47,198 |
| Salary range | Between $45,000 And $117,000 | Between $33,000 And $66,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | New York |
| Best paying company | - | Ropes & Gray |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a legal investigator and a legal administrator in terms of educational background:
| Legal Investigator | Legal Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Criminal Justice | Business |
| Most common college | University of Richmond | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal investigators' and legal administrators' demographics:
| Legal Investigator | Legal Administrator | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% | Male, 28.2% Female, 71.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 9% |