What Does a Senior Paralegal Do?

In this section, we compare the average senior paralegal annual salary with that of a legal office assistant. Typically, legal office assistants earn a $25,992 lower salary than senior paralegals earn annually.

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

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A senior paralegal responsibility is more likely to require skills like "lexis," "intellectual property," "excellent organizational," and "due diligence." Whereas a legal office assistant requires skills like "data entry," "office equipment," "word processing," and "scheduling appointments." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

Legal office assistants receive the highest salaries in the non profits industry coming in with an average yearly salary of $41,921. But senior paralegals are paid more in the finance industry with an average salary of $69,879.

The education levels that legal office assistants earn is a bit different than that of senior paralegals. In particular, legal office assistants are 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior paralegal. Additionally, they're 3.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Next up, we have the litigation assistant profession to look over. This career brings along a lower average salary when compared to a senior paralegal annual salary. In fact, litigation assistants salary difference is $6,242 lower than the salary of senior paralegals per year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Senior paralegals and litigation assistants both include similar skills like "legal research," "litigation," and "law firm" on their resumes.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that senior paralegal responsibilities requires skills like "lexis," "intellectual property," "excellent organizational," and "legal issues." But a litigation assistant might use skills, such as, "phone calls," "proofreading," "defense counsel," and "office equipment."

Litigation assistants may earn a lower salary than senior paralegals, but litigation assistants earn the most pay in the construction industry with an average salary of $63,516. On the other side of things, senior paralegals receive higher paychecks in the finance industry where they earn an average of $69,879.

In general, litigation assistants study at similar levels of education than senior paralegals. They're 2.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 3.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The third profession we take a look at is attorney's assistant. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than senior paralegals. In fact, they make a $7,270 lower salary per year.

Using senior paralegals and attorney's assistants resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "legal research," "litigation," and "law firm," but the other skills required are very different.

As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from senior paralegals resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "lexis," "intellectual property," "excellent organizational," and "due diligence." But a attorney's assistant might have skills like "pleadings," "expense reports," "schedule appointments," and "conference calls."

When it comes to education, attorney's assistants tend to earn similar education levels than senior paralegals. In fact, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 6.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Legal administrators tend to earn a lower pay than senior paralegals by about $12,927 per year.

According to resumes from both senior paralegals and legal administrators, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "legal research," "litigation," and "law firm. "

Each job requires different skills like "lexis," "intellectual property," "excellent organizational," and "paralegal support," which might show up on a senior paralegal resume. Whereas legal administrator might include skills like "veterans," "data entry," "in-house counsel," and "life insurance."

In general, legal administrators make a higher salary in the government industry with an average of $54,616. The highest senior paralegal annual salary stems from the finance industry.

Legal administrators reach similar levels of education when compared to senior paralegals. The difference is that they're 1.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.