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The differences between legal technicians and 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 paralegal. Additionally, a legal technician has an average salary of $62,283, which is higher than the $49,943 average annual salary of a paralegal.
The top three skills for a legal technician include litigation, sharepoint and legal research. The most important skills for a paralegal are litigation, legal research, and law firm.
| Legal Technician | Paralegal | |
| Yearly salary | $62,283 | $49,943 |
| Hourly rate | $29.94 | $24.01 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 29,700 | 5,177 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| 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.
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 technicians and paralegals have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Legal Technician | Paralegal | |
| Average salary | $62,283 | $49,943 |
| Salary range | Between $44,000 And $86,000 | Between $35,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | AIG | Arnall Golden Gregory |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a legal technician and a paralegal in terms of educational background:
| Legal Technician | Paralegal | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Business | Legal Support Services |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between legal technicians' and paralegals' demographics:
| Legal Technician | Paralegal | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 36.5% Female, 63.5% | Male, 22.4% Female, 77.6% |
| 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, 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 | 9% | 9% |