Found a Salary Guide - How Accurate is it? Forum

[mrtux45]

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[Anonymous User]

Huh. According to this salary guide I am underpaid.

[1styearlateral]

Huh. According to this salary guide I am underpaid.

Aren't we all?

I've seen this guide before, and although it looks great and may give you a boost of confidence before rolling into your interview or negotiating with your firm, the reality is the firm is going to pay you what they want to pay you and really nothing more. If you're seeking positions that aren't on a salary scale like myself, those firms are usually hire-as-needed and won't have to play salary games with you since there will be 100 other attorneys behind you willing to take their offer.

And the firm size chart is way off if you're in cities like NYC or LA. Large firm = 75+ attorneys? There's firms here with over 300 attorneys under one roof. My firm has about 50 attorneys and I'd say we're small for NYC standards.

[lymenheimer]

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 3&t=170603

[mrtux45]

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[foregetaboutdre]

Huh. According to this salary guide I am underpaid.

Aren't we all?

I've seen this guide before, and although it looks great and may give you a boost of confidence before rolling into your interview or negotiating with your firm, the reality is the firm is going to pay you what they want to pay you and really nothing more. If you're seeking positions that aren't on a salary scale like myself, those firms are usually hire-as-needed and won't have to play salary games with you since there will be 100 other attorneys behind you willing to take their offer.

And the firm size chart is way off if you're in cities like NYC or LA. Large firm = 75+ attorneys? There's firms here with over 300 attorneys under one roof. My firm has about 50 attorneys and I'd say we're small for NYC standards.

Not sure how they're compiling the COL adjustments ( *Edit it's not a COL adjustment, but salary adjustment) as well.... Looking at the MI market, it's weird.

Detroit 100
Ann Arbor 101.5 (I can't remember)
Lansing 85
Grand Rapids 85.5

From this it looks like Lansing and GR are some of the cheapest places to live in the US (comparable to Youngstown and Dayton). Nothing against Dayton, but housing costs in GR/Lansing are much higher. Housing in Ann Arbor is also substantially higher than Detroit or its suburbs (even though Ann Arbor can be considered a suburb of Detroit).

Weird...