Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between legal specialists and paralegals 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 a paralegal takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a legal specialist has an average salary of $55,253, which is higher than the $49,943 average annual salary of a paralegal.
The top three skills for a legal specialist include legal support, legal research and proofreading. The most important skills for a paralegal are litigation, legal research, and law firm.
| Legal Specialist | Paralegal | |
| Yearly salary | $55,253 | $49,943 |
| Hourly rate | $26.56 | $24.01 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 6,517 | 5,177 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| 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.
Paralegals are law firm or legal department employees who work on cases with lawyers. They handle different activities, usually administrative or clerical, such as organizing and maintaining files, updating records, and managing correspondences, among others. Paralegals also handle different activities directly related to active cases being worked on by lawyers in the firm or department. They assist lawyers on cases by preparing materials needed for trials, conducting legal research, verifying trial facts, helping during interviews, getting statements from those involved in the case, and creating presentation materials. Paralegals should have knowledge of laws and should be familiar with landmark cases.
Legal specialists and paralegals have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Specialist | Paralegal | |
| Average salary | $55,253 | $49,943 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $98,000 | Between $35,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Orrick | Arnall Golden Gregory |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal specialist and a paralegal in terms of educational background:
| Legal Specialist | Paralegal | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Business | Legal Support Services |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between legal specialists' and paralegals' demographics:
| Legal Specialist | Paralegal | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.5% Female, 67.5% | Male, 22.4% Female, 77.6% |
| 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, 9.2% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 5.7% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 9% |