Judicial Law Clerks
US occupation · SOC 23-1012
Job titles people report: Appellate Law Clerk, Career Judicial Law Clerk, Career Law Clerk, Judicial Assistant, Judicial Clerk, Judicial Law Clerk, Law Clerk, Law Researcher, Pro Se Law Clerk, Term Law Clerk
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $64,920
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $52,870 – $80,420
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 13,290
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +2.8%
- Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 1,500
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- Doctoral or professional degree
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents.
Main tasks
- Prepare briefs, legal memoranda, or statements of issues involved in cases, including appropriate suggestions or recommendations.
- Research laws, court decisions, documents, opinions, briefs, or other information related to cases before the court.
- Draft or proofread judicial opinions, decisions, or citations.
- Confer with judges concerning legal questions, construction of documents, or granting of orders.
- Review complaints, petitions, motions, or pleadings that have been filed to determine issues involved or basis for relief.
- Keep abreast of changes in the law and inform judges when cases are affected by such changes.
- Attend court sessions to hear oral arguments or record necessary case information.
- Review dockets of pending litigation to ensure adequate progress.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- Doctoral or professional degree
- O*NET Job Zone 5
- Extensive preparation
- 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).
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
- Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Legal Professions and Studies
- Law
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Lawyers
$159,670 median · +4.7% projected
- Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates
$153,990 median · +2.8% projected
- Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers
$117,860 median · 0% projected
- Paralegals and Legal Assistants
$62,890 median · -0.3% projected
- Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
$55,570 median · -5.2% projected
- Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners
$72,420 median · -0.1% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 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. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk