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The differences between legal specialists and executive legal assistants 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 specialist, becoming an executive legal assistant takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a legal specialist has an average salary of $55,253, which is higher than the $53,442 average annual salary of an executive legal assistant.
The top three skills for a legal specialist include legal support, legal research and proofreading. The most important skills for an executive legal assistant are powerpoint, expense reports, and litigation.
| Legal Specialist | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $55,253 | $53,442 |
| Hourly rate | $26.56 | $25.69 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 6,517 | 72,148 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
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.
An Executive Legal Assistant provides comprehensive support to lawyers and legal offices. They start as entry-level assistants before specializing in a field after a few years with experience; litigation, criminal law, family law, international law. Their duties include performing legal research by gathering case information for presentation, writing legal reports based on research and interviews, scheduling meetings, organizing travel arrangements, and organizing documentation for easy accessibility. An Executive Legal Assistant must be well organized, analytical research skills, and experience in case management. They typically spend long work hours spent in libraries and offices, requiring occasional travel.
Legal specialists and executive legal assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Specialist | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Average salary | $55,253 | $53,442 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $98,000 | Between $37,000 And $75,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Orrick | PayPal |
| Best paying industry | - | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a legal specialist and an executive legal assistant in terms of educational background:
| Legal Specialist | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between legal specialists' and executive legal assistants' demographics:
| Legal Specialist | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.5% Female, 67.5% | Male, 8.7% Female, 91.3% |
| Race ratio | Black 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, 8.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 5.4% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 9% |