Thursday, September 07, 2006

Thinking about law school?

Skaddenfreude: Not All Lawyers Are Loaded

100 dollar bill.JPGWe now proudly present the inaugural installment of a regular ATL feature, Skaddenfreude: Totally Gauche Ogling of Other Lawyers' Incomes. As explained in our introductory post, Skaddenfreude will inform you about how much different lawyers around the country are earning (and how hard they're working to earn those salaries).

We've already received a number of submissions, some of which we present below, and some of which we're saving for future editions. This week's theme: not all lawyers are making a mint -- especially those who avoid the path of Biglaw and work for the government. Here are the numbers:

(1) assistant attorney general in a state AG's office, based in a large city, specializing in criminal law, class of 2005: $48,000 (40 hrs./week);

(2) legal research professor, at a top 50 law school in a mid-sized city, class of 2002: $46,000;

(3) attorney advisor for a city agency in a large city, class of 2003: $61,000 ("I only get a raise every two years, which is less than the cost of living. I work about 50-60 hours per week... last summer, I was working almost 70 hours a week...");

(4) deputy public defender, in a small city, specializing in criminal/juvenile cases, class of 1999: $48,000 ("Bonus? HA!").

Click the link for the rest of the story.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

For some very interesting discussions -- things to ask your placement office about, visit:

http://www.jdjive.com/read.php?1,231916,page=9

annegb said...

I met a young lawyer when I was in Island Park. My friend and I sat with four young guys in a crowded cafe. The scruffiest one, who I thought was the loser, was actually the most educated and a lawyer. I figured he was rich.

Stephen said...

Now you know why he was so scruffy ... ;)