what are the starting and advanced salaries for a lawyer

by Mandy Padberg 8 min read

The overall median starting salary was $130,000, and ranged from $70,000 in firms of 2-25 lawyers to $135,000 in firms of 501-1,000 lawyers, and $160,000 in firms of more than 1,000 lawyers.

How much does a starting lawyer make in a year?

The Average Salary of a Lawyer: An Overview. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the 2018 median pay for lawyers in the U.S. was $120,910. That comes out to an hourly pay of $58.13, assuming a 40-hour work week. As most lawyers will tell you, though, the typical work week at a law firm tends to be a lot longer than 40 hours.

What is the average lawyer salary in 2021?

Jun 21, 2021 · Starting salary Entry-level annual salary $61,490 to $84,450 per year Entry-level hourly wage $30 to $41 per hour Entry-level Lawyers with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $61,490 to $84,450 per year or $30 to $41 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience. Featured Schools

What are the highest paying lawyer jobs?

Mar 04, 2022 · How much does a Lawyer make in the United States? Average base salary $5,233 Most common benefits Others Health Insurance View more The average salary for a lawyer is $5,233 per month in the United States. 291 salaries reported, updated at February 18, 2022. Is this useful? Top companies for Lawyers in United States Zinda Law Group 3.9

What determines a lawyer's salary?

Types of Lawyers and Lawyer Salaries Average Salary for different types of lawyers Corporate Lawyer - $110,026 Criminal Defense Lawyer - $80,609 Family Lawyer - $87,636 Immigration Lawyer - $67,487 IP Lawyer - $128,452 Lawyer with Law Firm - $100,529 Regulatory Lawyer - $105,600 Senior Corporate Lawyer - $146,000 Trial Lawyer - $103,712

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How Much Does a Lawyer Make? Lawyers made a median salary of $126,930 in 2020. The best-paid 25 percent made $189,520 that year, while the …

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Starting salary

Entry-level Lawyers with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $61,490 to $84,450 per year or $30 to $41 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.

Salary rank

We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Lawyers to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.

How much does an Entry Level Lawyer make?

As of Sep 2, 2021, the average annual pay for an Entry Level Lawyer in the United States is $47,318 a year.

What are Top 10 Highest Paying Cities for Entry Level Lawyer Jobs

We’ve identified 10 cities where the typical salary for an Entry Level Lawyer job is above the national average. Topping the list is San Jose, CA, with Oakland, CA and Tanaina, AK close behind in the second and third positions.

What are Top 5 Best Paying Related Entry Level Lawyer Jobs in the U.S

We found at least five jobs related to the Entry Level Lawyer job category that pay more per year than a typical Entry Level Lawyer salary. Top examples of these roles include: Attorney Partner, Health Care Attorney, and Healthcare Attorney.

Salary update

Due to the developing crisis, salaries are changing rapidly. Here is the average salary for Lawyers in the United States since March 2020.

Frequently asked questions

If you’re unsure about what salary is appropriate for a lawyer, visit Indeed's Salary Calculator to get a free, personalized pay range based on your location, industry and experience.

How much does a lawyer make in 2021?

Lawyers are compensated very well for all the hard work they put in to become licensed to practice law. The average lawyer salary in 2021 will be $84,771. This is a very good salary, but certain types of lawyers will make more money than this - depending on what they specialize in.

How much does a trial lawyer make?

However, different types of lawyers have different salaries. The average trial lawyer makes $103,712 while the average corporate lawyer makes $111,026. Check out the table and graph above for more information.

Why do companies need a corporate lawyer?

A corporate lawyer should have business acumen as they may be asked to help make business decisions from time to time. Companies may have one corporate lawyer on staff or may have multiple corporate lawyers on staff – with each one specializing on different aspects of the company.

What is corporate lawyer?

Corporate Lawyer. A corporate lawyer is a lawyer who works with a business or corporation. The sole purpose of a corporate lawyer is to serve the best interests of the business or corporation in which they are working for.

What is a criminal defense lawyer?

A criminal defense lawyer is in charge of representing defendants in court. In the United States, everyone accused of a crime has a right to a lawyer. With that being said, there is no shortage of criminal defense lawyers.

How long does it take to get divorced?

A divorce lawyer must be familiar with laws in their specific state. Depending on how the divorce was filed, fault or no-fault, it can take three to 12 months to finalize the divorce.

What is an immigration lawyer?

An immigration lawyer is a unique type of lawyer. An immigration lawyer works with foreign citizens and immigrants who must interact with United States immigration authorities. An immigration authority will spend significantly less time in court when compared to other types of lawyers.

How much does a lawyer make a month?

Q: How much does a lawyer make per month?#N#A: In 2019, the average salary of a lawyer was approximately $12,108.33 a month, which amounts to about $145,300 a year.#N#Q : Do lawyers who own private practices or partners in law firms have a higher salary?#N#A: Lawyers working in law firms generally earn more than those who own private practices.

Which state pays the most lawyers?

Best-Paying States for Lawyers. The states and districts that pay Lawyers the highest mean salary are District of Columbia ($192,180), California ($173,970), New York ($168,780), Massachusetts ($164,800), and Illinois ($157,010).

What is the job of assistant city attorney?

Assistant City Attorney PURPOSE OF THE CLASSIFICATION: Provides legal advice and representation; drafts and administers a variety of contracts for which the City is a party; conducts significant and ...

Top 50 Highest Paying States for Lawyer Jobs in the U.S

We’ve identified seven states where the typical salary for a Lawyer job is above the national average. Topping the list is New York, with New Hampshire and Vermont close behind in second and third. Vermont beats the national average by 7.5%, and New York furthers that trend with another $13,750 (17.0%) above the $80,743.

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Explanation of Lawyer Salaries

According to the U.S. News and World Report, the average salary of an attorney was $118,160 in 2016. But it’s not that simple.

Lawyer Salaries of Big Law Attorneys

Big Law refers to law firms that employ over 500 attorneys. These people aren’t just sitting around all the time reading John Grisham books though; they’re working and making money.

Lawyer Salaries of Medium Law Attorneys

Medium Law isn’t a phrase you’ll hear that much, but I think it’s helpful in this case to describe law firms that don’t have over 500 attorneys, but they behave similarly to Big Law firms.

Lawyer Salaries of Small Law Attorneys

Small Law firms don’t have a definitive number of attorneys like Big Law firms do. But to give you an idea of their size, think less than 20 attorneys in smaller cities and towns, and less than 50 attorneys in bigger cities.

Conclusions about Lawyer Salaries

It’s important to note that there are lawyers who don’t work at law firms. Lawyers work for public interest groups, in the government, and even in-house in businesses. However, the salaries in these jobs tend to vary greatly. So, we’ll discuss them further in the future.

How much should you negotiate?

See how your offer stacks up to other pay packages and negotiate confidently.

Recent Salary Reports

Below are the most recent first year attorney salary reports. Employer name has been removed to protect anonymity.

Featured Content

New research shows that each woman experiences the disparity of gender pay gap in different ways, depending on her position, age, race and education.

Gender Breakdown

This data is based on 219 survey responses. Learn more about the gender pay gap.

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