- Quickdraw McLaw
- 17 Comments
- 184 Views
One of the topics some of you mentioned you would like to discuss was attorney salary. It is always a difficult topic because attorneys aren’t always honest about what they make and anonymous responses, while encouraging honesty, aren’t easily verifiable. Of course that doesn’t stop up from trying. We last did a compensation survey in 2017 that you can view here. That survey covered anyone who wanted to respond and gave us an idea of some attorney salaries here. But we all know that salaries vary from person to person, depending on experience, education, and a host of other factors. One of the easiest ways to discuss salary is to talk about what a first year attorney. When we did our 2017 compensation survey, the responses for first years indicated an average salary of $80,000. Considering what you know about the market today, is that number a good starting point for first years? Too high? Too low? Does it solely depend on the practice? Let us know what you know and think? Also, what should first years lawyers expect in terms of a bonus, if any?
5 year attorney here. Base salary $120K. Expected bonus $25-30K. ID.
I started at $65k. I got a bonus of $1,000 my first year.
8 year attorney, non-billable position, $125,000 salary, no bonus.
Started at $85k at a billable firm, no bonus.
From what I've seen, the best raise you get is when you move firms.
That's been my firsthand experience. Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for the free market of capitalism.
The advice I did not take as a young attorney: forget your skill set, focus on your book of business, and slice throats to get it. Very true.
Talent is cheap. Paying clients ain't.
10:23 are you hiring? What are minimum billable hours?
(I am 8 years ID lawyer, 1900 hours, base is $96K + 10-15K bonus)
10 year lawyer, $120k, $3k bonus. Mixture of types of litigation work.
Third year attorney, $90,000. expecting bonus of about $20-30k. Litigation mostly. Started at $70,000, got a $10,000 my fist full year based off what I brought in.
12 year attorney. Opened my own firm about 6 years ago with a partner. On paper the firm grossed over a million for 2019 and I took home about $165K, no bonus though… If you can handle a mix of PI, criminal cases, and some odds & ends, go out on your own!
Re: 3:43PM
Assuming your partner took home the same amount, are you both netting about 33 cents per dollar that you bill? I've spoken off and on with our managing partner and he is constantly telling me that at best he takes home 50 cents per dollar billed as the rest goes to overhead.
1st year at 130k expecting 10k bonus at a Nevada firm doing primarily litigation. I did join after a clerkship so I may be a 2nd year?
I made about $10k less than this, with around the same bonus, but I did not join after a clerkship. 1st year, litigation.
As we head into the most dangerous election ever, I would happily accept ammunition, professional grade medical kit (with antibiotics), and canned goods in partial compensation. If I make my hours, a shiny new rifle.
6-year ID associate, started at $70K first year with $1K bonus; Now at $155K salary with approx. $5-$10K annual bonus. 2000 billable (but includes PTO).
First year salary always depends on field of law, firm/office, location (e.g., Vegas v. Northern Nevada). Clientele and billable rate has a huge impact. However, $80K still seems to be a good starting salary, especially during these turbulent economic times. When I became an attorney (2011), Great Recession was still in full swing and a starting salary of $55-60K was considered pretty good, especially since many private offices were paying first year associates as low as $40-45K
6 year PI attorney. Salary is $140k + usually $5-10k annual bonus + healthy percentage on the cases I bring in.
Not sure which firm pays this much nowadays. I'm a 10-year attorney and being paid $85K. That's down from $100K 5 years ago. So I guess my rate is a starting rate.
I'm from Nevada, and I found this blog years ago when I was in law school and contemplating a career in Nevada, but I ended up elsewhere. I fear that I'm the one that skewed the data-points a few years back because I logged in my Cravath-scale salary and bonus, which is representative of a totally different legal market. In hindsight, I shouldn't have put that in. Sorry.