Midlaw and small law salaries Forum

[Anonymous User]

I know that most midlaw and small law salaries start off at 40-60k, but with time, do these lawyers get higher salaries?

[Anonymous User]

I am interested in this too, particularly for smaller New England markets such as Portland, ME, or Burlington, VT.

[edgarderby]

http://www.infirmation.com/shared/insider/payscale.tcl

[TTH]

All it takes is one fat tort claim in the right state.

[vtoodler]

edgarderby, is infirmation a unbiased source?

[underachiever]

edgarderby, is infirmation a unbiased source?

I personally know for some firms the $ is not right, its old or just completely off base (Ohio markets)

[Anonymous User]

http://www.infirmation.com/shared/insider/payscale.tcl

The chart is ancient (the salary for the firms in MS is $30,000 below what it is now for entry level associates).

NALPdirectory.com is a good start.

While a lot of firms are not on there, many midlaw firms and good boutique firms pay about (maybe a little less) than the firms on there do (in there respective markets).

For example there are only like 6 firms for Jackson, MS on NALP. However I know of another 6 there that pay market and are pretty large.

Honestly it seems to follow that the bigger the market, the more firms that are there that would pay close to market.

I.e. lets say NYC had 100 firm offices that paid $160,000. There are probably 300 other firm offices that paid $100,000+. Of course, I'm not saying that the other firms are any easier to get into (sometimes harder).

[reasonable_man]

My mid-law salary started at 65k with a small bonus and small profit share.

Have gotten a steady 10k bump after that (and from what I hear internally, thats pretty common each year).

Its not models and bottles, but in a few years its certainly a nice wage and if you hit partnership, its clearly much better.

However, as an aside, I do have friends that graduated from my TTT with me and have been out working since Summer 2008 and are STILL making less than 45k in small private practices. Most small offices, unless you hit on of the true boutique type practices, pay complete shit in almost any market.

[Cole S. Law]

There are quite a few firms around here that start associates at 75-100K. The common mistaken assumption is that these "midlaw" firms offer a carefree, low-stress lifestyle. The only difference between the lifestyle at these firms and the V 100 is the pay. Most are offshoots from the big boys and therefore expect the same from their underlings.

Small law is just as bad. Down on their luck winos who tripped at Wal Mart are notoriously difficult to meet with during regular business hours.

[RVP11]

edgarderby, is infirmation a unbiased source?

Unbiased perhaps, but it hasn't been updated in ages. I see several firms that say 80k when I know for a fact they now pay 110k-125k.

[reasonable_man]

There are quite a few firms around here that start associates at 75-100K. The common mistaken assumption is that these "midlaw" firms offer a carefree, low-stress lifestyle. The only difference between the lifestyle at these firms and the V 100 is the pay. Most are offshoots from the big boys and therefore expect the same from their underlings.

Small law is just as bad. Down on their luck winos who tripped at Wal Mart are notoriously difficult to meet with during regular business hours.

All true.

[FiveSermon]

So this just reinforces my idea of biglaw or bust if small/midlaw is pretty much biglaw with shittier pay.

[Anonymous User]

However, as an aside, I do have friends that graduated from my TTT with me and have been out working since Summer 2008 and are STILL making less than 45k in small private practices.

Are these friends in large metropolitan areas? What kind of grades did they have? I only ask because making <$45k 3 years out of law school just seems completely unreal. I was making $52k as a legal assistant at a small-mid law firm prior to starting LS (which is a TTT), and I would pretty upset to rejoin the workforce making less than I did before I went $200k in debt.

[Redsgomarchingon]

However, as an aside, I do have friends that graduated from my TTT with me and have been out working since Summer 2008 and are STILL making less than 45k in small private practices.

Are these friends in large metropolitan areas? What kind of grades did they have? I only ask because making <$45k 3 years out of law school just seems completely unreal. I was making $52k as a legal assistant at a small-mid law firm prior to starting LS (which is a TTT), and I would pretty upset to rejoin the workforce making less than I did before I went $200k in debt.

these guys posted in feb 2010, so you probably won't get a response

[reasonable_man]

However, as an aside, I do have friends that graduated from my TTT with me and have been out working since Summer 2008 and are STILL making less than 45k in small private practices.

Are these friends in large metropolitan areas? What kind of grades did they have? I only ask because making <$45k 3 years out of law school just seems completely unreal. I was making $52k as a legal assistant at a small-mid law firm prior to starting LS (which is a TTT), and I would pretty upset to rejoin the workforce making less than I did before I went $200k in debt.

You worked in the field and find it hard to believe this? There are T1 grads earning NOTHING as they sit unemployed right now... Why would it shock you to learn that firms are also low balling employees because they can?? 45k is the low end, but it happens. These are typically Low T1,TT and TTT grads median and up.

[Anonymous User]

However, as an aside, I do have friends that graduated from my TTT with me and have been out working since Summer 2008 and are STILL making less than 45k in small private practices.

Are these friends in large metropolitan areas? What kind of grades did they have? I only ask because making <$45k 3 years out of law school just seems completely unreal. I was making $52k as a legal assistant at a small-mid law firm prior to starting LS (which is a TTT), and I would pretty upset to rejoin the workforce making less than I did before I went $200k in debt.

You worked in the field and find it hard to believe this? There are T1 grads earning NOTHING as they sit unemployed right now... Why would it shock you to learn that firms are also low balling employees because they can?? 45k is the low end, but it happens. These are typically Low T1,TT and TTT grads median and up.

I suppose, I guess I thought firms either hired at a decent price (at least $65k) or just didn't hire at all. I know at my old firm they slowed down on the hiring, but those they did hire still started at about $75k.

[BeautifulSW]

Take a look in this month's ABA Journal. I think that the figures for the El Paso area are pretty accurate. Don't know about other areas, though.

[cmraider]

Take a look in this month's ABA Journal. I think that the figures for the El Paso area are pretty accurate. Don't know about other areas, though.

link?

[BeautifulSW]

Just surf over to http://www.americanbar.org and look under "publications" then "Journal" then "current issue".

[Anonymous User]

Just surf over to http://www.americanbar.org and look under "publications" then "Journal" then "current issue".

Just link us

[NotMyRealName09]

FWIW - The Michigan information is pretty much accurate on that infirmation link. There probably has been some fluctuation, but its pretty much how I remember from OCI with Michigan firms.

Someone above said midlaw firms are like biglaw with less pay. That may be true to an extent, but you do have to figure in cost of living.

However, there is a limit to reasonableness - I know people who work at Kitch in Detroit - they bill something like 1900 hours per year for <$40,000! Its a tough choice when its that or not working at all I suppose. But the figure for Kitch in the infirmation link for Michigan is not a typo.

[cmraider]

I'll post what BeautifulSW should have: http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/arti ... yers_earn/