Judicial Law Clerks

Median salary

$64,920

Average salary

$72,950

Employment

13,290

Projected growth

2.5% growth

Annual openings

1,000

Typical entry education

Doctoral or professional degree

What Judicial Law Clerks Do

Assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None
Self-employed: 2.7%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 5 of 5

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience: Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
Education: Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Job training: Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Law and Governmentimportance 4.9/5
English Languageimportance 4.5/5
Administrativeimportance 3.5/5
Computers and Electronicsimportance 2.9/5
Public Safety and Securityimportance 2.7/5
Administration and Managementimportance 2.3/5
Communications and Mediaimportance 2.2/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 2.0/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.9/5
E-Mail4.9/5
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.8/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.6/5
Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results4.6/5
Spend Time Sitting4.5/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Tax Preparers97% skill match
Paralegals and Legal Assistants97% skill match
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents96% skill match
Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs96% skill match
Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials96% skill match
Correspondence Clerks96% skill match
New Accounts Clerks95% skill match
School Psychologists95% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.5/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.3/5
Time Managementimportance 3.3/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.0/5
Coordinationimportance 3.0/5
Persuasionimportance 2.8/5
Negotiationimportance 2.8/5
Instructingimportance 2.6/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

In-Demand Technologies

Thomson Reuters Westlaw

Other Software Used

Aderant CompuLaw
Advanced Technologies Class Act
American Legalnet Smart Dockets
American Legalnet eDockets
Canyon Solutions Jcats
Compugov DocketView
Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
Infocom JACS

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Attention to Detail
Integrity
Dependability
Intellectual Curiosity
Cautiousness
Achievement Orientation
Self-Control

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

ConventionalHigh
EnterprisingMedium
InvestigativeMedium
SocialMedium
ArtisticLow
RealisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.