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Legal technician vs contractor-paralegal

The differences between legal technicians and contractor-paralegals can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a legal technician and a contractor-paralegal. Additionally, a legal technician has an average salary of $62,283, which is higher than the $60,686 average annual salary of a contractor-paralegal.

The top three skills for a legal technician include litigation, sharepoint and legal research. The most important skills for a contractor-paralegal are litigation, legal research, and discovery responses.

Legal technician vs contractor-paralegal overview

Legal TechnicianContractor-Paralegal
Yearly salary$62,283$60,686
Hourly rate$29.94$29.18
Growth rate14%14%
Number of jobs29,70015,609
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age4646
Years of experience1212

What does a legal technician do?

A Legal Technician is a person who maintains and inspects all equipment by having a proper document, including the marking. They are responsible for ensuring that all duties and schedules will be on time. This career is for someone who has a clear vision since their task is to check the accuracy and equipment quality. They must have practical communication skills and suitable deductive and analytic types of reasoning, and know how to evaluate the product or machinery's information.

What does a contractor-paralegal do?

A Contractor-Paralegal works for a law firm or corporate legal department for a specified amount of time, or for a specified task. They can be specialized in the entertainment industry or in providing services to healthcare companies and insurance providers.

Legal technician vs contractor-paralegal salary

Legal technicians and contractor-paralegals have different pay scales, as shown below.

Legal TechnicianContractor-Paralegal
Average salary$62,283$60,686
Salary rangeBetween $44,000 And $86,000Between $37,000 And $99,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCCamarillo, CA
Highest paying statePennsylvaniaCalifornia
Best paying companyAIGSeaSpine
Best paying industryTechnologyFinance

Differences between legal technician and contractor-paralegal education

There are a few differences between a legal technician and a contractor-paralegal in terms of educational background:

Legal TechnicianContractor-Paralegal
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common majorBusinessLegal Support Services
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaHarvard University

Legal technician vs contractor-paralegal demographics

Here are the differences between legal technicians' and contractor-paralegals' demographics:

Legal TechnicianContractor-Paralegal
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 36.5% Female, 63.5%Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 20.8% Asian, 5.6% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 5.8% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between legal technician and contractor-paralegal duties and responsibilities

Legal technician example responsibilities.

  • Gather and prepare documents for binders/notebooks for depositions, arbitration, hearings/trial; manage incoming document production mostly for litigation purposes.
  • Collect medical records for attorneys, law enforcement, and court order subpoenas.
  • Prepare medical records for patients, physicians, subpoenas, copy services, etc.
  • Maintain and track litigation data, analyze data problems and recommend corrective action to senior legal systems staff.
  • Collect and prepare required documentation for answering interrogatories and drafting interrogatories for attorney review to be forward to opposing counsel.
  • Administer government policies and procedures in the resolution of litigation and other matters resulting from the closing of fail financial institutions.
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Contractor-paralegal example responsibilities.

  • Manage client expenses and prepare billing and financial statements using PClaw and reconcile attorney's escrow and general accounts using QuickBooks.
  • Assist staff counsels in all aspects of litigation management including factual investigation, document preparation, trial preparation and support.
  • Research using Lexis Nexis and online resources.
  • Summarize medical records, check blue-book cites, retrieve statutory and case law on LEXIS ,
  • Complete contract work for local attorneys in the areas of civil, family law, personal injury, and probate matters.
  • Prepare, compile and distribute various PowerPoint presentations.
  • Show more

Legal technician vs contractor-paralegal skills

Common legal technician skills
  • Litigation, 13%
  • SharePoint, 9%
  • Legal Research, 7%
  • SQL, 6%
  • Windows, 6%
  • Legal Support, 5%
Common contractor-paralegal skills
  • Litigation, 12%
  • Legal Research, 9%
  • Discovery Responses, 7%
  • PowerPoint, 7%
  • In-House Counsel, 5%
  • Contract Database, 5%