What Does a Litigation Paralegal Do?

We looked at the average litigation paralegal annual salary and compared it with the average of a law internship. Generally speaking, law interns receive $19,090 lower pay than litigation paralegals per year.

While their salaries may differ, one common ground between litigation paralegals and law interns are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like litigation, law firm, and trial preparation.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A litigation paralegal responsibility is more likely to require skills like "discovery responses," "mediation," "excellent organizational," and "affidavits." Whereas a law internship requires skills like "legal memos," "legal intern," "intellectual property," and "law enforcement." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

On average, law interns reach similar levels of education than litigation paralegals. Law interns are 2.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 12.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Next up, we have the summer associate profession to look over. This career brings along a lower average salary when compared to a litigation paralegal annual salary. In fact, summer associates salary difference is $16,135 lower than the salary of litigation paralegals per year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Litigation paralegals and summer associates both include similar skills like "litigation," "law firm," and "trial preparation" on their resumes.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, litigation paralegal responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "discovery responses," "mediation," "excellent organizational," and "affidavits." Meanwhile, a summer associate might be skilled in areas such as "first hand," "client facing," "team work," and "financial models." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, summer associates earn a lower salary than litigation paralegals. There are industries that support higher salaries in each profession respectively. Interestingly enough, summer associates earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $86,415. Whereas, litigation paralegals have higher paychecks in the professional industry where they earn an average of $64,050.

In general, summer associates study at higher levels of education than litigation paralegals. They're 6.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 12.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Let's now take a look at the criminal justice lawyer profession. On average, these workers make lower salaries than litigation paralegals with a $8,507 difference per year.

While looking through the resumes of several litigation paralegals and criminal justice lawyers we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "legal research," "subpoenas," and "powerpoint," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from litigation paralegals resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "litigation," "law firm," "trial preparation," and "discovery responses." But a criminal justice lawyer might have skills like "criminal justice," "semester," "public safety," and "syllabus."

Interestingly enough, criminal justice lawyers earn the most pay in the professional industry, where they command an average salary of $50,030. As mentioned previously, litigation paralegals highest annual salary comes from the professional industry with an average salary of $64,050.

Criminal justice lawyers typically study at higher levels compared with litigation paralegals. For example, they're 8.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Now, we'll look at legal administrators, who generally average a lower pay when compared to litigation paralegals annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $11,286 per year.

While both litigation paralegals and legal administrators complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like litigation, law firm, and trial preparation, the two careers also vary in other skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a litigation paralegal might have more use for skills like "discovery responses," "mediation," "excellent organizational," and "affidavits." Meanwhile, some legal administrators might include skills like "veterans," "data entry," "in-house counsel," and "life insurance" on their resume.

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The government industry tends to pay more for legal administrators with an average of $54,616. While the highest litigation paralegal annual salary comes from the professional industry.

In general, legal administrators reach similar levels of education when compared to litigation paralegals resumes. Legal administrators are 3.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.