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The differences between senior legal assistants and legal secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a senior legal assistant, becoming a legal secretary takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior legal assistant has an average salary of $51,102, which is higher than the $41,725 average annual salary of a legal secretary.
The top three skills for a senior legal assistant include litigation, legal research and legal correspondence. The most important skills for a legal secretary are litigation, legal correspondence, and dictation.
| Senior Legal Assistant | Legal Secretary | |
| Yearly salary | $51,102 | $41,725 |
| Hourly rate | $24.57 | $20.06 |
| Growth rate | 14% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 9,152 | 13,182 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Average age | 46 | 54 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 4 |
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 secretaries are employees in a law firm who are responsible for many administrative tasks. They handle the tasks such as filing and keeping records, ensuring that all documents are stored properly, and update contact information data and other essential office databases. They must also be knowledgeable on the law because they are, at times, assigned to draw up legal documents such as motions and subpoenas, conduct legal research, and write up other important office memoranda. Legal secretaries should be organized, trustworthy, and level-headed.
Senior legal assistants and legal secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Legal Assistant | Legal Secretary | |
| Average salary | $51,102 | $41,725 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $70,000 | Between $28,000 And $60,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | Kane Russell Coleman Logan | |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a senior legal assistant and a legal secretary in terms of educational background:
| Senior Legal Assistant | Legal Secretary | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Bentley University |
Here are the differences between senior legal assistants' and legal secretaries' demographics:
| Senior Legal Assistant | Legal Secretary | |
| Average age | 46 | 54 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 16.1% Female, 83.9% | Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 2.7% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 15% |