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Legal technician vs senior legal assistant

The differences between legal technicians and senior 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 a senior legal assistant. Additionally, a legal technician has an average salary of $62,283, which is higher than the $51,102 average annual salary of a senior legal assistant.

The top three skills for a legal technician include litigation, sharepoint and legal research. The most important skills for a senior legal assistant are litigation, legal research, and legal correspondence.

Legal technician vs senior legal assistant overview

Legal TechnicianSenior Legal Assistant
Yearly salary$62,283$51,102
Hourly rate$29.94$24.57
Growth rate14%14%
Number of jobs29,7009,152
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
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 senior legal assistant do?

Senior legal assistants are responsible for managing junior-level assistants. They also support lawyers with various legal tasks such as conducting legal research, drafting documents, and hearing trials. These assistants must work with attorneys and clients to review various legal documents to ensure their accuracy and completeness. They gather documents for attorneys and prepare witnesses scheduled for court hearings. Senior legal assistants must also arrange the delivery of subpoenas while preparing the required affidavit of service.

Legal technician vs senior legal assistant salary

Legal technicians and senior legal assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Legal TechnicianSenior Legal Assistant
Average salary$62,283$51,102
Salary rangeBetween $44,000 And $86,000Between $36,000 And $70,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCWashington, DC
Highest paying statePennsylvaniaPennsylvania
Best paying companyAIGGoogle
Best paying industryTechnologyProfessional

Differences between legal technician and senior legal assistant education

There are a few differences between a legal technician and a senior legal assistant in terms of educational background:

Legal TechnicianSenior Legal Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Legal technician vs senior legal assistant demographics

Here are the differences between legal technicians' and senior legal assistants' demographics:

Legal TechnicianSenior Legal Assistant
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 36.5% Female, 63.5%Male, 16.1% Female, 83.9%
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, 8.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.8% Asian, 5.4% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between legal technician and senior legal assistant 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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Senior legal assistant example responsibilities.

  • Perform administrative tasks for managing partner and trial attorney at a medical malpractice litigation firm including daily transcription and stenography.
  • Handle collections, probate, estate planning, real estate and corporate work.
  • Interview witnesses, prepare declarations, and draft responses to interrogatories and requests for production.
  • Prepare lawsuits from complaint through judgment and garnishment for foreclosures, probate, and loss mitigation.
  • Develop numerous PowerPoint presentations for conferences and teachings.
  • Develop PowerPoint presentations, reports and legal documents.
  • Show more

Legal technician vs senior legal assistant skills

Common legal technician skills
  • Litigation, 13%
  • SharePoint, 9%
  • Legal Research, 7%
  • SQL, 6%
  • Windows, 6%
  • Legal Support, 5%
Common senior legal assistant skills
  • Litigation, 15%
  • Legal Research, 7%
  • Legal Correspondence, 6%
  • Legal Support, 5%
  • Discovery Responses, 5%
  • Subpoenas, 5%