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The differences between litigation support specialists and legal specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a litigation support specialist, becoming a legal specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a litigation support specialist has an average salary of $64,690, which is higher than the $55,253 average annual salary of a legal specialist.
The top three skills for a litigation support specialist include litigation, defense counsel and electronic discovery. The most important skills for a legal specialist are legal support, legal research, and proofreading.
| Litigation Support Specialist | Legal Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $64,690 | $55,253 |
| Hourly rate | $31.10 | $26.56 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 110,360 | 6,517 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Average age | 42 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
A litigation support professional serves as an apprentice of an attorney in dealing with complicated legal issues. They are responsible for creating and maintaining data systems, retrieving records, and assisting in legal cases or lawsuits. Also, they are the one who organizes and analyzes documents from a database and does the case review. A support professional also supports the company and law firm in any way possible. This is why this career plays an important role in reducing the workload of an attorney, especially with complex lawsuits.
A legal specialist is responsible for supporting an organization's legal department or law office by performing administrative duties to assist legal operations. Legal specialists are the clients' first point-of-contact, especially on scheduling appointments and responding to legal services inquiries and concerns. They also organize legal documents, prepare and write contracts, and help legal professionals with collecting information for their cases. A legal specialist must have comprehensive knowledge of the legal industry, including law processes and federal regulations.
Litigation support specialists and legal specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Litigation Support Specialist | Legal Specialist | |
| Average salary | $64,690 | $55,253 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $98,000 | Between $30,000 And $98,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Cornerstone Research | Orrick |
| Best paying industry | Professional | - |
There are a few differences between a litigation support specialist and a legal specialist in terms of educational background:
| Litigation Support Specialist | Legal Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between litigation support specialists' and legal specialists' demographics:
| Litigation Support Specialist | Legal Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0% | Male, 32.5% Female, 67.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |