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The differences between legal secretaries 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 $41,725 average annual salary of a legal secretary.
The top three skills for a legal secretary include litigation, legal correspondence and dictation. The most important skills for an attorney law clerk are litigation, discovery responses, and settlement agreements.
| Legal Secretary | Attorney Law Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $41,725 | $112,527 |
| Hourly rate | $20.06 | $54.10 |
| Growth rate | -8% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 13,182 | 72,641 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Doctoral Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 54 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
Legal secretaries are employees in a law firm who are responsible for many administrative tasks. They handle the tasks such as filing and keeping records, ensuring that all documents are stored properly, and update contact information data and other essential office databases. They must also be knowledgeable on the law because they are, at times, assigned to draw up legal documents such as motions and subpoenas, conduct legal research, and write up other important office memoranda. Legal secretaries should be organized, trustworthy, and level-headed.
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 secretaries and attorney law clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Secretary | Attorney Law Clerk | |
| Average salary | $41,725 | $112,527 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $60,000 | Between $72,000 And $174,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Kane Russell Coleman Logan | Reed Smith |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal secretary and an attorney law clerk in terms of educational background:
| Legal Secretary | Attorney Law Clerk | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Doctoral Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Law |
| Most common college | Bentley University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal secretaries' and attorney law clerks' demographics:
| Legal Secretary | Attorney Law Clerk | |
| Average age | 54 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8% | Male, 53.5% Female, 46.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 2.7% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | 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 | 15% | 13% |