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Legislative assistant vs law clerk

The differences between legislative assistants and law clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a law clerk has an average salary of $55,916, which is higher than the $45,614 average annual salary of a legislative assistant.

The top three skills for a legislative assistant include policy issues, press releases and legislative process. The most important skills for a law clerk are litigation, legal issues, and legal memos.

Legislative assistant vs law clerk overview

Legislative AssistantLaw Clerk
Yearly salary$45,614$55,916
Hourly rate$21.93$26.88
Growth rate-10%10%
Number of jobs18875,014
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age4341
Years of experience--

What does a legislative assistant do?

A Legislative Assistant develops and plans legislative initiatives and monitors legislative developments. They usually work for elected and appointed officials, advocacy groups, or non-profit organizations.

What does a law clerk do?

Law clerks are employees in a legal firm who handle clerical tasks for the office. They handle the office's official phone lines, answering incoming calls, and making outgoing calls. They also field office correspondence, often receiving incoming mail and distributing them to their addressees. They manage office documents and ensure that they are correctly filed and labeled in their respective storage bins. Law clerks help make office life more comfortable because they make sure that the office is running well. They also manage appointments and office calendars.

Legislative assistant vs law clerk salary

Legislative assistants and law clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

Legislative AssistantLaw Clerk
Average salary$45,614$55,916
Salary rangeBetween $24,000 And $83,000Between $27,000 And $114,000
Highest paying CityAnchorage, AKWashington, DC
Highest paying stateAlaskaNew York
Best paying companyEarthjusticeHughes Hubbard & Reed
Best paying industry-Professional

Differences between legislative assistant and law clerk education

There are a few differences between a legislative assistant and a law clerk in terms of educational background:

Legislative AssistantLaw Clerk
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 75%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorPolitical ScienceLaw
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaStanford University

Legislative assistant vs law clerk demographics

Here are the differences between legislative assistants' and law clerks' demographics:

Legislative AssistantLaw Clerk
Average age4341
Gender ratioMale, 48.8% Female, 51.2%Male, 52.5% Female, 47.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 5.4% White, 69.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 10.3% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage13%13%

Differences between legislative assistant and law clerk duties and responsibilities

Legislative assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage office social media accounts including facebook, wordpress and twitter.
  • Manage website and social media content (Facebook) and write weekly blog for local media outlets.
  • Track and analyze all outside legislation that impact the Medicaid program.
  • Draft and review legislation focuse on issues impacting women and families, military sexual trauma, veterans, and human rights.
  • Provide operational oversight and legislative analysis of association relate measures.
  • Draft legislation to increase Medicare reimbursements for rural health care providers.
  • Show more

Law clerk example responsibilities.

  • Hire specifically to perform legal research and write memorandums on probate cases, particularly those involving litigation.
  • Conduct legal research, draft various legal documents, including complaints, social security/disability appeals, settlement demand letters and subpoenas.
  • Research and draft affirmations in support, arbitration contentions, discovery responses, and attorney correspondence for insurance fraud litigation firm.
  • Value securities by performing company valuations utilizing DCF and multiples methods.
  • Develop valuation ranges using precedent transaction, comparable company, and DCF analyses
  • Utilize LexisNexis and WestlawNext search databases to conduct legal research and data analysis.
  • Show more

Legislative assistant vs law clerk skills

Common legislative assistant skills
  • Policy Issues, 17%
  • Press Releases, 9%
  • Legislative Process, 5%
  • Committee Hearings, 5%
  • Legislative Issues, 3%
  • State Agencies, 3%
Common law clerk skills
  • Litigation, 16%
  • Legal Issues, 7%
  • Legal Memos, 7%
  • Pre-Trial Motions, 6%
  • Interrogatories, 4%
  • Summary Judgment, 3%