Attorney salaries depend heavily on their specialty and level of experience. Attorneys working at large law firms typically earn higher than solo practitioners.
Clientele and reputation play an integral part in compensation; lawyers with high-profile clients and an established niche presence can command higher fees.
Other variables influencing pay include geographical region and firm size. Employees working for prominent law firms located in major cities tend to receive more generous compensation packages.
David Boies
Boies is widely recognized as one of the premier legal practitioners in the country, having graduated with honors from Yale Law School in 1966 and winning many high-profile cases across courts nationwide and earning numerous awards along the way.
Boies is now among a select few attorneys charging more than $2,000 an hour and has seen his hourly rate more than double since last year, when he revealed it in connection with a federal privacy suit against Alphabet Inc’s Google. Law firms tend to increase rates each year.
Boies is known for taking on complex legal cases with social repercussions. He earned widespread criticism after representing disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein who was charged with sexual assault as well as Theranos where he served on its board of directors. Boies recently defended California’s Proposition 8 case which challenges its ban on same-sex marriages against such claims as well.
Daniel Petrocelli
Daniel Petrocelli of Los Angeles is the lawyer who represented former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling during his criminal trial and later represented Donald Trump against class-action lawsuits over Trump University real estate seminars that no longer operate. Specializing in corporate white-collar defense, Daniel Petrocelli regularly donates to Democratic candidates and causes, giving at least $1200 towards Hillary Clinton’s campaign since November according to Federal Election Commission records.
Chambers and Legal 500 rank Nico Petrocelli among the country’s premier litigators. After studying music at UCLA but realizing it would not provide the means for him to pay his bills, he attended law school instead, graduating magna cum laude. Since then he has taken up numerous cases before the Supreme Court; on his bucket list is to argue in front of them as well. Currently a partner at O’Melveny & Myers and chair of its Trial Practice Committee he remains highly sought- after among his colleagues.
Steven Colbert
Stephen Colbert is an exceptional performer and political commentator who has received numerous accolades – including multiple Emmy nominations – throughout his career. Additionally, he authored a best-selling book and continues his efforts for charitable causes such as wounded veteran assistance and hurricane relief efforts.
Colbert was raised in Charleston, South Carolina and attended Porter-Gaud School and Hampden-Sydney College before transferring to Northwestern University. While initially planning to pursue an academic career in medicine, he switched his major and began performing improvisation at Chicago’s Second City Theatre instead. James Colbert began his professional life at Yale School of Medicine while his mother is Lorna Colbert who became an immunologist herself.
Colbert has earned immense acclaim since the 2005 debut of The Colbert Report, garnering many critical acclaims and numerous awards and honors since then, such as being named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list. At home, Colbert remains committed to his family life as a practicing Catholic and actively works on both projects at work.
John Finley
Finley has written extensively on the Bible, Homer’s Odyssey and classical literature. His publications exhibit brilliant powers of synthesis, command of ancient texts, meticulous reading across several languages, careful argumentation and an overall view that encompasses style, historical moment, aesthetic effect and moral implications.
Finley also provided public policy oversight for ValorUS, a California sexual assault coalition which secured $150 million for rape crisis centers and domestic violence prevention programs. Furthermore, he served as an adviser for the American Law Institute’s Restatement of Corporate Governance document and numerous Boards of Directors.
John Finley joined Blackstone last summer after 22 years at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett where he earned an estimated compensation package of $7.3 Million, including restricted stock awards. Prior to that he served as partner in their mergers and acquisitions group. John holds both an undergraduate degree (BS, Summa Cum laude), from Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania as well as an advanced law degree (JD Cum laude) from Harvard Law School.