NY Government Salaries Forum

[Anonymous User]

I went right into a court attorney position out of law school with a NY trial court. Starting pay is 72k plus union and benefits. No complaints here

[Anonymous User]

How about someone looking to lateral to the DA's office with experience? Say you have 5 years experience in biglaw, but want to now be a DA. Are you credited with that experience or do you start at the bottom? Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

How about someone looking to lateral to the DA's office with experience? Say you have 5 years experience in biglaw, but want to now be a DA. Are you credited with that experience or do you start at the bottom? Thanks.

You will be credited with that experience and they will pay you, most likely, the same as the class year you belong to (ie if you graduated 2012, you will be paid what the class of 2012 is being paid, currently) as most DA's offices don't differentiate salaries between class years.

[Tiny Rick!]

I went right into a court attorney position out of law school with a NY trial court. Starting pay is 72k plus union and benefits. No complaints here

Where do you live? Do you have like seven roommates?

[Anonymous User]

How about someone looking to lateral to the DA's office with experience? Say you have 5 years experience in biglaw, but want to now be a DA. Are you credited with that experience or do you start at the bottom? Thanks.

You will be credited with that experience and they will pay you, most likely, the same as the class year you belong to (ie if you graduated 2012, you will be paid what the class of 2012 is being paid, currently) as most DA's offices don't differentiate salaries between class years.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful to know.

[Anonymous User]

How about someone looking to lateral to the DA's office with experience? Say you have 5 years experience in biglaw, but want to now be a DA. Are you credited with that experience or do you start at the bottom? Thanks.

You will be credited with that experience and they will pay you, most likely, the same as the class year you belong to (ie if you graduated 2012, you will be paid what the class of 2012 is being paid, currently) as most DA's offices don't differentiate salaries between class years.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful to know.

Hmm, my understanding was that someone with only a few years of experience would start as an entry-level ADA. My only experience with this is a friend who left mid-law after 4 years and went to KCDA

[Anonymous User]

I went right into a court attorney position out of law school with a NY trial court. Starting pay is 72k plus union and benefits. No complaints here

Where do you live? Do you have like seven roommates?

Not the same poster, but one can live in NY just fine with a salary of 72k without roommates. Granted, they won't have a Lexus or a 3-bedroom on the UWS but you can make do with a studio or 1-bedroom in Brooklyn or Queens just fine.

[Anonymous User]

How about someone looking to lateral to the DA's office with experience? Say you have 5 years experience in biglaw, but want to now be a DA. Are you credited with that experience or do you start at the bottom? Thanks.

You will be credited with that experience and they will pay you, most likely, the same as the class year you belong to (ie if you graduated 2012, you will be paid what the class of 2012 is being paid, currently) as most DA's offices don't differentiate salaries between class years.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful to know.

Hmm, my understanding was that someone with only a few years of experience would start as an entry-level ADA. My only experience with this is a friend who left mid-law after 4 years and went to KCDA

My information is personal knowledge from sources at BCDA. It may differ at offices. I think starting ADAs who had maybe 1 or 2 years clerkship experience would start at base salary, however i personally know laterals with 3 years experience whose salaries matched the class, all the way up to 8th year laterals.

[Anonymous User]

How about someone looking to lateral to the DA's office with experience? Say you have 5 years experience in biglaw, but want to now be a DA. Are you credited with that experience or do you start at the bottom? Thanks.

You will be credited with that experience and they will pay you, most likely, the same as the class year you belong to (ie if you graduated 2012, you will be paid what the class of 2012 is being paid, currently) as most DA's offices don't differentiate salaries between class years.

Thank you very much. This is very helpful to know.

Hmm, my understanding was that someone with only a few years of experience would start as an entry-level ADA. My only experience with this is a friend who left mid-law after 4 years and went to KCDA

My information is personal knowledge from sources at BCDA. It may differ at offices. I think starting ADAs who had maybe 1 or 2 years clerkship experience would start at base salary, however i personally know laterals with 3 years experience whose salaries matched the class, all the way up to 8th year laterals.

Are the salary differences so significant? We may be talking under 5k difference. I was referring to starting at the lowest level of work. Misdemeanor even though others your "year" are GJ or felony

[Anonymous User]

Any PD numbers??

Rule of thumb: subtract 5k from what the local DA's start at, and assume that salary raises and promotions will be rarer and inconsistent.

Legal Aid is unionized and has defined pay steps. You should be able to find a copy of their contract with salary schedules online. Other PDs in the city may have less consistent raises, dunno.

Fair enough, but they (and the public defender office in DC) are basically the unicorn of the public defense world.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Any PD numbers??

Rule of thumb: subtract 5k from what the local DA's start at, and assume that salary raises and promotions will be rarer and inconsistent.

Legal Aid is unionized and has defined pay steps. You should be able to find a copy of their contract with salary schedules online. Other PDs in the city may have less consistent raises, dunno.

Fair enough, but they (and the public defender office in DC) are basically the unicorn of the public defense world.

I don't know why you think that. They're competitive but so are all PD jobs in New York. Anecdotally I think it's tougher to get hired at BX Defenders, at least. At least LAS has a ton of lawyers. In any event, if you're talking about PD salaries the pay at the organization that employs most of them seems pertinent.

[Anonymous User]

Any PD numbers??

Rule of thumb: subtract 5k from what the local DA's start at, and assume that salary raises and promotions will be rarer and inconsistent.

Legal Aid is unionized and has defined pay steps. You should be able to find a copy of their contract with salary schedules online. Other PDs in the city may have less consistent raises, dunno.

Fair enough, but they (and the public defender office in DC) are basically the unicorn of the public defense world.

I don't know why you think that. They're competitive but so are all PD jobs in New York. Anecdotally I think it's tougher to get hired at BX Defenders, at least. At least LAS has a ton of lawyers. In any event, if you're talking about PD salaries the pay at the organization that employs most of them seems pertinent.

Sorry, meant for pay, not prestige or anything like that.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Sorry, meant for pay, not prestige or anything like that.

Ah, that's possible that they pay more. Though not extravagantly or anything. Maybe starting low 60s?

[Anonymous User]

I went right into a court attorney position out of law school with a NY trial court. Starting pay is 72k plus union and benefits. No complaints here

Where do you live? Do you have like seven roommates?

Not the same poster, but one can live in NY just fine with a salary of 72k without roommates. Granted, they won't have a Lexus or a 3-bedroom on the UWS but you can make do with a studio or 1-bedroom in Brooklyn or Queens just fine.

My apologies, I should've qualified my statement.

I do live at home and when I do move out, it will be with my partner and we will split rent. A one bedroom in Queens is roughly 1600-2000. It's tough but doable on 72k alone.

[Anonymous User]

I work at the law department. salary is 67k, goes up to 69k after you pass the bar. You get small raises every year depending on your evaluations. I'm also a reserve military officer so i get another 7-8k annually. Wife and I live in south brooklyn, in a nice apartment for less than $1600 in a great area. We live comfortably but not extravagant (wife makes less than me). Although I do have to admit, without my reservist pay, things would be tight but still very doable depending on your financial situation.

[XxSpyKEx]

I went right into a court attorney position out of law school with a NY trial court. Starting pay is 72k plus union and benefits. No complaints here

Where do you live? Do you have like seven roommates?

Not the same poster, but one can live in NY just fine with a salary of 72k without roommates. Granted, they won't have a Lexus or a 3-bedroom on the UWS but you can make do with a studio or 1-bedroom in Brooklyn or Queens just fine.

My apologies, I should've qualified my statement.

I do live at home and when I do move out, it will be with my partner and we will split rent. A one bedroom in Queens is roughly 1600-2000. It's tough but doable on 72k alone.

I mean living alone (renting) obviously is workable on a $72k /year salary even in NYC. But good luck somehow putting away enough towards retirement and/or paying student loans with that salary on top of living alone in NYC on a $72k /year salary---I don't think that's very practical.

I never really understood the allure of living in NYC. It's a fun city, but unless you're independently wealthy, you either don't have the time or money to actually enjoy it (lack of time if you make enough money to potentially enjoy the city; lack of money if you have more flexible/shorter work hours). IMO, living in the midwest or the south is way better deal if you're going to be a government worker, but that's just my opinion.

[zot1]

I went right into a court attorney position out of law school with a NY trial court. Starting pay is 72k plus union and benefits. No complaints here

Where do you live? Do you have like seven roommates?

Not the same poster, but one can live in NY just fine with a salary of 72k without roommates. Granted, they won't have a Lexus or a 3-bedroom on the UWS but you can make do with a studio or 1-bedroom in Brooklyn or Queens just fine.

My apologies, I should've qualified my statement.

I do live at home and when I do move out, it will be with my partner and we will split rent. A one bedroom in Queens is roughly 1600-2000. It's tough but doable on 72k alone.

I mean living alone (renting) obviously is workable on a $72k /year salary even in NYC. But good luck somehow putting away enough towards retirement and/or paying student loans with that salary on top of living alone in NYC on a $72k /year salary---I don't think that's very practical.

I never really understood the allure of living in NYC. It's a fun city, but unless you're independently wealthy, you either don't have the time or money to actually enjoy it (lack of time if you make enough money to potentially enjoy the city; lack of money if you have more flexible/shorter work hours). IMO, living in the midwest or the south is way better deal if you're going to be a government worker, but that's just my opinion.

Yeah I moved out of California because working for the government seemed inconsistent with the kind of lifestyle I wanted if I were to remain in Cali. Haven't regretted the decision for a second. It helps though that I'm married. I think single people have a harder time moving away from the city.