What is the entry level salary for lawyers?

Answer 1

Starting Salary for LawyersIt obviously depends on the country in question.

According to the website PayScale, the average annual starting salary for a lawyer in the US ranges from $45,585 - $173,244. This is the rate for Total Pay, which "combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare)."

Click on the Related link to go to the PayScale website, where you can find out information regarding the country of your choice.

More comments from Answers.com contributors:

• The starting salary is around $67,500 in firms of 2-25 attorneys to $125,000 in firms of more than 500 lawyers, with a first-year median for all participating firms of $100,000.
• Public sector lawyers are not included in this. They earn significantly less, starting at $35,000-$45,000. The average law school graduate can expect to earn about $50,000 the first year out, depending on how prestigious their law school and new job is. Really, only Ivy League grads can expect to start at or above 6 figures in the US.
• This question cannot be answered with any degree of reasonable accuracy. There are too many variables to consider. What is the attorney's hourly rate? What are his/her overhead expenses? What is the usual rate charged in the area by other attorneys having similar experience and qualifications? What is the degree of complexity of the cases tried? What is the case worth in terms of assets to be divided? Does he/she try most cases in court or settle them out of court? Does the attorney really know the ropes of the area? Is the attorney in demand by clients? What type of workload does he/she have? All sorts of things go into the amount of a fee charged and what ends up as an annual income.

Answer 2

Varies with the type of law, where they are practicing and dozens of other variables. $40k is a starting point, lower for public service and non-profit types, higher and much higher for corporate and specialty attorney's with additional training and skills.
That would depend on the firm hiring the lawyer

Answer 3

Wrong Answer

The law offers a variety of oppurtunties to be involved in many things, and the salaries have that same variety. The salary levels for attorneys vary widely. Some at the top of their graduating class from law school can start in a large private firm near $150,000 annually. Some, in public interest work can be in the $30,000 range. To view some of the variety in a lawyer's life, view the related link below.

Answer 4

Lawyers are subject to the same employment laws as anyone else. Federal minimum wage is currently $7.25/hr. Some states have a higher minimum.

Technically speaking, the word "salary" applies to "exempt" employees (those meeting particular criteria who are not subject to the usual laws concerning overtime, etc.). To be considered exempt, an employee must have an annual salary of at least $23,660 (as with wages, states may establish a higher minimum). There are other criteria as well, but typically any job that could reasonably be described as "lawyer" would meet them easily.

(While the above does, strictly speaking, answer the question as asked, it may be misleading: the average salary for a first-year associate in a small law firm in the US in 2007 was $68,000; for large firms it was considerably higher.)

Answer 5

Hi! It depends on the field you practice in.Malpractice lawyers can make over 6 figures, while small claims attorneys might earn 50,000 to 100,000.

It depends on the firm and the individual cases.

Answer 6

$30,000 - $120,000, depending on the city/state, what kind of work and what size/type of practice.

For an accurate picture of the job market for new lawyers read some posts of recent law school grads...