Lawyers and Salaries

Lawyers and Salaries

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Re: Lawyers and Salaries

1/3 of the business she brings in is pretty high. Usually it is 10%. The $30,000 sounds very low even for LI.

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

In 2000, I caught wind of an e-mail between partners (it's funny the things you find out when you are network admin.) that a new male associate with no incoming client base was starting with the firm at 65,000. There was a female associate who had been with the firm for at least 3 years at that point and she was not making that much.

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

my hubby to be work as a lawyer for terh plice dept and i uysed to say well cant you make so much more elsewhere and now his brother is a lawyer ant his FIL firm a nd he makes about teh same and work SOOOOOO much more. My fh can work his job and hass time for side work so in reality he woulod be making more. i think people have this idea you leave law school making $$$$$$ and you dont and besiodes even if you are luck y to get a $$$ job you have ton of loans!! I knwo I pay them every month LOL

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

That sounds about right for the going rate if you're not in the top 5% of your class and it's not a big NYC firm. It's sad, but the market, especially for lawyers, is abysmal.

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

$30,000 is very low if you consider that number alone. Even government and public service positions pay more than that.

However, 1/3 of the business she brings in could amount to a HUGE number if that means 1/3 of the attorneys fees in the action.

This question hinges entirely on what type of firm it is and how much business they typically handle per year and, additionally, on your friend's personality (in terms of bringing in business). Your friend needs to do a little research on this before she can evaluate how good the offer is.

Also, what are her other alternatives, job offers in the same salary range or offers in the $100,000 plus range?

There are so many factors to consider....GOOD LUCK TO HER

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

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Posted by Annieb

$30,000 is very low if you consider that number alone. Even government and public service positions pay more than that.

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Not necessarily true considering that there have been major hiring freezes throughout gov't. positions, and public interest lawyers get paid diddly squat (trust me on this )

HOWEVER, the benefits that go along with those positions are amazing and make up for it.

I'm assuming this is a new attorney starting out, which, as I said, would make that number unfortunately realistic for today's market.

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

Annie, I almost died when I interviewed for a Wall Street firm that told me, at the interview, which I wouldn't have gone to if I had known this in advance, that they were offering $28K with no bennies.

I'm currently making low $30s (I know, you're not supposed to talk salary in public, but who the fluck cares when you're not making any ), with a guaranteed raise to mid $30s this summer, after being there a year and a half. The benefits I get are absolutely unbelievable and add at least another $10 - $15K to my salary, not to mention that I'm a union member, so job security is great. And I work 35 hours a week. Period.

But when I interviewed for this job, I was at my wits' end and sick of looking at similar or lower salaries for starting attorneys when the going rate right out of law school when I first started was about $50K.

The best part, though, is that I met my future partners with whom I plan on starting a firm next year, so new lawyers should never look just at salary, even with a mortgage-sized loan to pay back.

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

Yeah, well, that's all part and parcel of my bemefits. There are trade-offs in both directions. Now go do some work and get home to your hubby!

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Re: Lawyers and Salaries

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Hey Kriss, on the up side, you were probably making more than a good number of the attorneys you came in contact with!

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Wow! I can't imagine that, please tell me that just for a first associate and your salary more than doubles afterwards.

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Posted by Kriss2c

Ok the firm that I just left which was located on Long Island was paying me.... a legal secretary just under 40k with benes. I was the lowest paid secretary in the firm.

What gives??

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If you were working for one of the larger firms in Nassau, that is probably about right. Also, there are some firms in LI that pay decently, but they are few and far between.

I am an attorney in NYC. The upside is that my salary is decent. The downside is that I am typing this from my desk!!!

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

Re: Lawyers and Salaries

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Re: Lawyers and Salaries

Ok I guess I am an idiot b/c I thought lawyers made 100k once they passed the bar. Its ok for everyone to smack me now



Salary isn't everything though. I would think once you get experience you can really get the ball rolling. Just like someone said they are talking partnership now.


Though the economy is sooooooooooooo bad right now. My husban makes more than me and I have a masters degree and he has nada degree to the first.

Then I always tell him you make considerable even more b/c you don't have student loans.


See thats the kicker with school these days. You leave with all these student loans and when you go on interviews and they offer you a salary lower than the loans you owe you really start to wonder what in the world is going on.


Though you guys get tons of brownie points b/c you get to say 'I am a lawyer' :)