Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between public defenders and legal externs can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a public defender and a legal extern. Additionally, a public defender has an average salary of $69,052, which is higher than the $47,238 average annual salary of a legal extern.
The top three skills for a public defender include mental health, law enforcement and criminal cases. The most important skills for a legal extern are litigation, legal intern, and legal issues.
| Public Defender | Legal Extern | |
| Yearly salary | $69,052 | $47,238 |
| Hourly rate | $33.20 | $22.71 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 11,673 | 10,986 |
| Job satisfaction | 2 | - |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Public Defenders have a career choice whose scope is simple but contains a complex educational background for the level of work involved. This position calls upon those with strong multitasking, interpersonal skills, and a great deal of confidence for the workload. To qualify for this position, a degree with a focus on criminal defense law is required. They are absolutely indispensable for an appointee in trials to represent people who would otherwise not be able to afford an attorney to defend themselves.
Legal externs are law students who took the opportunity to do on-the-job training at a law firm. Instead of monetary compensation, they receive academic credits. Legal externs primarily engage in job shadowing. They are usually assigned mentors in the law firm, and they would shadow their mentors in their daily routines. Legal externs are exposed to the actual work done by lawyers. Legal externs are involved in cases, providing insights while building a solid case for their client, giving advice to clients, and representing clients under the supervision of the actual lawyers in the firm. They are usually not given administrative or clerical tasks since they are expected to do more tasks directly related to being a lawyer.
Public defenders and legal externs have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Public Defender | Legal Extern | |
| Average salary | $69,052 | $47,238 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $98,000 | Between $23,000 And $93,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Rosa, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | United States Courts | Jones Day |
| Best paying industry | Government | Professional |
There are a few differences between a public defender and a legal extern in terms of educational background:
| Public Defender | Legal Extern | |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Law | Law |
| Most common college | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between public defenders' and legal externs' demographics:
| Public Defender | Legal Extern | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 45.1% Female, 54.9% | Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 75.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 6.4% White, 75.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |