Legal Salaries: Median Salaries for Attorneys
Don’t assume that all lawyers make a lot of
money. Some do, most don’t. Legal salaries are driven largely by
where you work. Private sector employers pay much better than
government or public interest employers. The prestigious law firms
located in the nation’s largest cities pay the best: it is not
unusual to have a six-figure starting salary in New York City or San
Francisco. The top Minneapolis firms offer starting salaries to the
best and the brightest new lawyers in the range of $75,000 to
$95,000.
Not bad, huh? Do you see dollar signs
flashing before your eyes? If you do, perhaps you should think
instead about how much a cot costs, because it will come in handy
for those frequent late nights in the office.
The truth is, you will work for those bucks.
A large law firm expects a commitment of your time and loyalty,
meaning that, for many firms, you put the firm and its clients
first. It is not unusual to work late nights, weekends, and
holidays. As a new associate, you are at the bottom of the
hierarchy, any you’ll remain there for at least 2-4 years, until you
have established yourself in the firm, and younger folks have joined
that you can now dump your “dog” cases on.
Developing a client base is something that
you will have to do both in and outside of your firm. Client
development hours are often in addition to your required work hours.
Consequently, free time will remain at a premium for a long time if
you choose to work at one of these prestigious firms. For that
reason, many people leave large law firms after a few years. The
attrition rate is quite high, as lawyers seek alternatives that will
provide them and their families a more balanced lifestyle.
Government law jobs are a decidedly mixed
bag. On the one hand, they are much easier on families, since the
hours tend to be regular, and nights and weekends are rare. On the
other hand, they are hard to get, particular at this time when
national, state, and county governments are cutting back on staff
due to budget shortfalls. Government jobs present different kinds of
challenges, too: lack of staff, lack of adequate supplies, too many
cases, too much bureaucracy, and the like. Public defenders do work
that is often personally fulfilling and extremely frustrating at the
same time. Like public defenders, prosecutors have huge caseloads
and limited public funds for their offices. Agency attorneys work 9
to 5, but depending on the agency, the work can be repetitive and
boring.
Public interest law jobs are perhaps the most
personally rewarding, but of course they are the lowest
paying—significantly lower than private and government jobs. There
is a tremendous need for legal counsel for the poor, but many
students find that they simply cannot pursue such low-paying jobs
upon graduation. Recognizing this fact, law schools increasingly are
offering student loan forgiveness programs to their graduates. These
programs vary from place to place, but generally the school uses a
fund of money to make the monthly student loan payments of an
attorney who takes a public interest job. The amount of money
granted as well as the length of the forgiveness period vary; often
it depends on what one earns in salary from the non-profit. If you
are interested in public interest work, but will need to take out
loans to pay for law school, you should carefully investigate
schools’ loan forgiveness programs during the application process.
Some schools are more generous than others and more supportive of
public interest work.
With that introduction, let’s talk about
salaries. What does a lawyer make? Happily, the National Association
of Law Placement (NALP), a non-profit group representing legal
employers, bar associations, and law schools, regularly surveys
employers to ascertain current salaries and hiring trends. Take a
look at its latest conclusions:
Median Salaries for Attorneys by Type of Organization and Years
of Experience
| Years of Experience |
Civil Legal Services Organizations |
Public Defenders |
Local Prosecuting Attorneys |
State Prosecuting Attorneys |
Public Interest Organizations |
| Entry-level |
$34,000 |
$39,000 |
$40,000 |
$40,574 |
$36,656 |
| 5 years |
$40,000 |
$50,000 |
$52,000 |
$47,700 |
$46,313 |
| 11-15 years |
$51,927 |
$65,000 |
$69,255 |
$68,139 |
$64,000 |
Source: 2004 Public Sector and
Public Interest Report. ©2005 NALP.
15-Year Overview - Median Starting Salaries by Firm Size —
1990-2004
| Year |
Firm Size (Number of Attorneys) |
| All Sizes |
2-10 |
11-25 |
26-50 |
51-100 |
101-250 |
251-500 |
501+ |
| 1990 |
$50,000 |
$30,000 |
$40,000 |
$45,000 |
$53,000 |
$60,000 |
$70,000 |
$70,000 |
| 1991 |
$50,000 |
$30,000 |
$40,000 |
$48,000 |
$55,000 |
$61,000 |
$70,000 |
$70,000 |
| 1992 |
$47,500 |
$30,000 |
$40,000 |
$48,000 |
$54,000 |
$60,000 |
$70,000 |
$70,000 |
| 1993 |
$48,000 |
$30,000 |
$40,000 |
$48,000 |
$54,000 |
$61,750 |
$70,000 |
$70,000 |
| 1994 |
$50,000 |
$32,000 |
$40,000 |
$48,000 |
$55,000 |
$60,080 |
$70,000 |
$70,000 |
| 1995 |
$50,000 |
$32,500 |
$40,000 |
$48,000 |
$55,000 |
$62,000 |
$72,000 |
$72,000 |
| 1996 |
$50,000 |
$34,000 |
$40,000 |
$49,000 |
$55,000 |
$62,000 |
$74,000 |
$77,000 |
| 1997 |
$55,000 |
$35,000 |
$42,000 |
$50,000 |
$58,000 |
$67,000 |
$79,000 |
$80,000 |
| 1998 |
$60,000 |
$37,000 |
$43,500 |
$52,000 |
$62,000 |
$72,000 |
$85,000 |
$90,000 |
| 1999 |
$70,000 |
$40,000 |
$46,000 |
$55,000 |
$70,000 |
$80,000 |
$92,000 |
$97,000 |
| 2000 |
$80,000 |
$40,000 |
$50,000 |
$60,000 |
$76,000 |
$99,500 |
$125,000* |
$125,000* |
| 2001 |
$90,000 |
$43,000 |
$52,000 |
$62,000 |
$80,000 |
$100,000 |
$125,000* |
$125,000* |
| 2002 |
$90,000 |
$45,000 |
$52,500 |
$65,000 |
$80,000 |
$100,000 |
$125,000* |
$125,000* |
| 2003 |
$80,000 |
$45,000 |
$55,000 |
$65,000 |
$80,000 |
$95,000 |
$125,000* |
$125,000* |
| 2004 |
$80,000 |
$48,000 |
$55,000 |
$65,000 |
$76,000 |
$100,000 |
$116,000 |
$125,000* |
| % Change, 1990-2004 |
60% |
60% |
37% |
44% |
43% |
67% |
66% |
79% |
* The median for these categories is
technically $125,000 based on a ranking of all reported salaries.
However, because about half of the reported salaries were $125,000,
the concept of a modal, or prevailing, salary is more useful.
Source: Employment Report &
Salary Survey reports/Jobs & JD’s reports for the Classes
of 1990-2004. ©2005 NALP.
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