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The differences between legal specialists and legal externs 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 a legal extern. Additionally, a legal specialist has an average salary of $55,253, which is higher than the $47,238 average annual salary of a legal extern.
The top three skills for a legal specialist include legal support, legal research and proofreading. The most important skills for a legal extern are litigation, legal intern, and legal issues.
| Legal Specialist | Legal Extern | |
| Yearly salary | $55,253 | $47,238 |
| Hourly rate | $26.56 | $22.71 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 6,517 | 10,986 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
Legal externs are law students who took the opportunity to do on-the-job training at a law firm. Instead of monetary compensation, they receive academic credits. Legal externs primarily engage in job shadowing. They are usually assigned mentors in the law firm, and they would shadow their mentors in their daily routines. Legal externs are exposed to the actual work done by lawyers. Legal externs are involved in cases, providing insights while building a solid case for their client, giving advice to clients, and representing clients under the supervision of the actual lawyers in the firm. They are usually not given administrative or clerical tasks since they are expected to do more tasks directly related to being a lawyer.
Legal specialists and legal externs have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Specialist | Legal Extern | |
| Average salary | $55,253 | $47,238 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $98,000 | Between $23,000 And $93,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Orrick | Jones Day |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal specialist and a legal extern in terms of educational background:
| Legal Specialist | Legal Extern | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Law |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between legal specialists' and legal externs' demographics:
| Legal Specialist | Legal Extern | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.5% Female, 67.5% | Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0% |
| 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, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |