The average salary of an attorney depends on numerous factors, including firm size, practice area and geographic market.
As one example, New York City firms have recently been increasing associate salaries. But this doesn’t necessarily equate to other lawyers being compensated equally.
How Much Money Do Lawyers Make?
Becoming a lawyer is a long and costly journey that involves an undergraduate degree, law school tuition fees and passing the bar exam. But once you secure employment and repay your student loans, the career can become very lucrative.
Your salary will depend on both your industry and experience levels; government attorneys often earn less than private sector attorneys.
Law firm size can have an effect on salary; larger firms tend to offer higher starting salaries for first year associates.
Big Law attorneys usually receive salaries based on the class of their law school and Cravath scale; on average, partners typically make around $1.1M annually. Attorneys working for federal governments typically earn salaries that fall somewhere within the General Schedule (GS) scale ranging from GS-1 to GS-15; usually after about 8 years on the job they reach this step; there may also be speciality positions like immigration lawyers which provide unique rates of pay.
Associate Lawyers
Life as an associate attorney can be challenging physically and financially during its first two years, according to salary reports. Salaries for junior associates often reach six figures or even higher.
“Most “normal” people imagine lawyers working in Big Law (think Suits!). Big Law refers to large, profitable law firms.
As such, new associates face considerable pressure to work long hours and produce billable hours at an impressive pace – this pressure often reflected by compensation structures with lofty expectations for associates’ performance.
According to this year’s 2023 NALP Associate Salary Survey, anticipated base salaries for first-year associates at firms of over 700 lawyers has fallen significantly from its peak of $160,000 seen in previous surveys due to mergers and acquisitions within these firms and fluctuation within their respondent pool over time. However, data was complicated further due to factors like merging and acquisition activity as well as fluctuations in respondent pool size from year-to-year.
Partner Lawyers
Becoming a partner at a law firm is the pinnacle of many lawyers’ legal careers and can bring in six-to seven-figure salaries.
The annual income of partners can depend on several factors, such as firm size and profitability and legal practice areas. Equity partners at one of America’s 200 firms reportedly earned an average of $1.054 Million according to research by law search firm Major, Lindsey & Africa in 2019.
Non-equity partners averaged an annual compensation of $432,000 in 2019. Partners receive compensation through profit sharing or other models based on firm performance goals such as new matters brought into the firm, revenue produced and retention of existing clients. They may also be incentivize to meet certain key performance indicators (KPIs), including billable hours, productivity and quality of work produced.
Government Lawyers
Government lawyers are typically hired by the Department of Justice or other agencies to prosecute crimes and defend the interests of the United States. Their salary follows the General Schedule pay scale with additional locality pay depending on their geographic location; according to a 2022 USAJOBS posting for an Assistant United States Attorney their annual salary ranged between $61,224 – $149,000 including locality increases; attorneys also earn vacation and annual leave, which accumulates indefinitely.
Class action personal injury attorneys typically make the highest income. On top of their salaries, these lawyers typically receive generous bonuses as well as working for companies with excellent benefits and job security – though hours may be long and promotion rarely occurs until someone retires or dies above them. Private lawyers tend to make more than government lawyers but the difference may not be as dramatic these days.