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The differences between legal investigators and paralegals 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 paralegal takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a legal investigator has an average salary of $72,914, which is higher than the $49,943 average annual salary of a paralegal.
The top three skills for a legal investigator include investigative reports, litigation and legal investigations. The most important skills for a paralegal are litigation, legal research, and law firm.
| Legal Investigator | Paralegal | |
| Yearly salary | $72,914 | $49,943 |
| Hourly rate | $35.05 | $24.01 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 9,582 | 5,177 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| 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.
Paralegals are law firm or legal department employees who work on cases with lawyers. They handle different activities, usually administrative or clerical, such as organizing and maintaining files, updating records, and managing correspondences, among others. Paralegals also handle different activities directly related to active cases being worked on by lawyers in the firm or department. They assist lawyers on cases by preparing materials needed for trials, conducting legal research, verifying trial facts, helping during interviews, getting statements from those involved in the case, and creating presentation materials. Paralegals should have knowledge of laws and should be familiar with landmark cases.
Legal investigators and paralegals have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Investigator | Paralegal | |
| Average salary | $72,914 | $49,943 |
| Salary range | Between $45,000 And $117,000 | Between $35,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Arnall Golden Gregory |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal investigator and a paralegal in terms of educational background:
| Legal Investigator | Paralegal | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Criminal Justice | Legal Support Services |
| Most common college | University of Richmond | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between legal investigators' and paralegals' demographics:
| Legal Investigator | Paralegal | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% | Male, 22.4% Female, 77.6% |
| 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, 9.2% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 5.7% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 9% |