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Legal specialist vs attorney

The differences between legal specialists and attorneys can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a legal specialist and an attorney. Additionally, an attorney has an average salary of $109,476, which is higher than the $55,253 average annual salary of a legal specialist.

The top three skills for a legal specialist include legal support, legal research and proofreading. The most important skills for an attorney are litigation, legal research, and law firm.

Legal specialist vs attorney overview

Legal SpecialistAttorney
Yearly salary$55,253$109,476
Hourly rate$26.56$52.63
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs6,51710,991
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Doctoral Degree, 48%
Average age4646
Years of experience44

What does a legal specialist do?

A legal specialist is responsible for supporting an organization's legal department or law office by performing administrative duties to assist legal operations. Legal specialists are the clients' first point-of-contact, especially on scheduling appointments and responding to legal services inquiries and concerns. They also organize legal documents, prepare and write contracts, and help legal professionals with collecting information for their cases. A legal specialist must have comprehensive knowledge of the legal industry, including law processes and federal regulations.

What does an attorney do?

Generally, an attorney's responsibility is to advise the client with an ongoing lawsuit on the legal procedures and provide strategies to resolve the case as early as possible. An attorney compiles necessary documents or any records for appeal and client's defense. Attorneys must acquire strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to mediate disputes and settle pending litigation for the client's best interest. In some cases, an attorney's procedure depends on any evidence and research presented during the trial period. An attorney is expected to present clients on legal proceedings, seeking justice and justifying the law.

Legal specialist vs attorney salary

Legal specialists and attorneys have different pay scales, as shown below.

Legal SpecialistAttorney
Average salary$55,253$109,476
Salary rangeBetween $30,000 And $98,000Between $69,000 And $172,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYWhite Plains, NY
Highest paying stateNew YorkNew York
Best paying companyOrrickThompson Coburn
Best paying industry--

Differences between legal specialist and attorney education

There are a few differences between a legal specialist and an attorney in terms of educational background:

Legal SpecialistAttorney
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Doctoral Degree, 48%
Most common majorBusinessLaw
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Legal specialist vs attorney demographics

Here are the differences between legal specialists' and attorneys' demographics:

Legal SpecialistAttorney
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 32.5% Female, 67.5%Male, 49.9% Female, 50.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage10%10%

Differences between legal specialist and attorney duties and responsibilities

Legal specialist example responsibilities.

  • Attain signing authority training certificate to sign motions for relief upon filing complex transactions.
  • Prepare and distribute payroll manage daily office operations and equipment and maintain supplies for office to run effectively.
  • Achieve award for increasing efficiency by extensively communicating with debtors' attorneys and monitoring trustee activities on a daily basis.
  • Review bankruptcy filing notifications and updating appropriate fields and workstations on MSP and LPS systems.
  • Review bankruptcy filings and claims using various proprietary applications including NDC, AACER, and LPS.
  • Utilize client systems such as Newtrak/LPS, AS400, LHIS, NDC and BAPS.
  • Show more

Attorney example responsibilities.

  • Manage the death administration department with approximately thirty-five plus estates through trust administration, Medicaid estate recovery or probate.
  • Respond to subpoenas and pleadings in litigation and in regulatory inquiries and investigations involving corporate clients.
  • Represent employers before federal administrative agencies, including inspections, administrative litigation, court-enforcement actions and appeals.
  • Litigate personal injury, and general liability matters, worker's compensation, estate planning and litigation, environmental liability litigation.
  • Create and give a presentation regarding non- attorney ethics to division staff.
  • Comply with all agency policies and procedures, including those pertaining to ethics and integrity
  • Show more

Legal specialist vs attorney skills

Common legal specialist skills
  • Legal Support, 12%
  • Legal Research, 11%
  • Proofreading, 9%
  • Litigation, 9%
  • Confidentiality Agreements, 5%
  • PowerPoint, 4%
Common attorney skills
  • Litigation, 19%
  • Legal Research, 9%
  • Law Firm, 8%
  • Legal Issues, 6%
  • Legal Advice, 5%
  • Juris, 4%