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The differences between legal secretaries and law clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a law clerk has an average salary of $55,916, 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 a law clerk are litigation, legal issues, and legal memos.
| Legal Secretary | Law Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $41,725 | $55,916 |
| Hourly rate | $20.06 | $26.88 |
| Growth rate | -8% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 13,182 | 75,014 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| 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.
Law clerks are employees in a legal firm who handle clerical tasks for the office. They handle the office's official phone lines, answering incoming calls, and making outgoing calls. They also field office correspondence, often receiving incoming mail and distributing them to their addressees. They manage office documents and ensure that they are correctly filed and labeled in their respective storage bins. Law clerks help make office life more comfortable because they make sure that the office is running well. They also manage appointments and office calendars.
Legal secretaries and law clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Secretary | Law Clerk | |
| Average salary | $41,725 | $55,916 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $60,000 | Between $27,000 And $114,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Kane Russell Coleman Logan | Hughes Hubbard & Reed |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal secretary and a law clerk in terms of educational background:
| Legal Secretary | Law Clerk | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Law |
| Most common college | Bentley University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal secretaries' and law clerks' demographics:
| Legal Secretary | Law Clerk | |
| Average age | 54 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8% | Male, 52.5% Female, 47.5% |
| 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, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 10.3% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 13% |