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The differences between legal technicians and executive legal assistants 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 an executive legal assistant. Additionally, a legal technician has an average salary of $62,283, which is higher than the $53,442 average annual salary of an executive legal assistant.
The top three skills for a legal technician include litigation, sharepoint and legal research. The most important skills for an executive legal assistant are powerpoint, expense reports, and litigation.
| Legal Technician | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $62,283 | $53,442 |
| Hourly rate | $29.94 | $25.69 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 29,700 | 72,148 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
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.
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 technicians and executive legal assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Technician | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Average salary | $62,283 | $53,442 |
| Salary range | Between $44,000 And $86,000 | Between $37,000 And $75,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | AIG | PayPal |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a legal technician and an executive legal assistant in terms of educational background:
| Legal Technician | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between legal technicians' and executive legal assistants' demographics:
| Legal Technician | Executive Legal Assistant | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 36.5% Female, 63.5% | Male, 8.7% Female, 91.3% |
| Race ratio | Black 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, 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 | 9% | 9% |