These titles are sometimes used interchangeably, but the general difference between legal assistants vs. paralegals breaks down like this:
- Legal assistants (alternatively named administrative assistant, legal secretary) handle a broad variety of office tasks, including scheduling, data entry, answering phones or other clerical duties.
- Paralegals often handle more technical legal tasks, including preparing documentation or performing research, and often requires more experience in law.
However, duties vary widely by firm and there are certainly employees titled “Legal Assistant” who perform paralegal duties—and vice-versa.
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BLS pay estimates calculate the median annual wage for various occupations. Per the BLS the median wage for an occupation is: "The wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount, and half earned less. Median wage data are from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey." Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2024. BLS median wage estimates do not represent entry-level wages and/or salaries. Multiple factors, including prior experience, age, geographic market in which you want to work, and degree level and field, will affect career outcomes, including starting salary and earnings as an experienced employee. Herzing neither represents that its graduates will earn the median salaries calculated by BLS for a particular job nor guarantees that graduation from its program will result in a job, promotion, particular wage or salary, or other career growth.
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