New Orleans "market" salary - Please help Forum

[mysoftsrock]

I am a 0L considering life at Tulane, and I have a few questions about the local legal market within the city.

First, aside from the 3 NLJ 250 firms in the city, what is the market value for starting associates? The firm sites are all very vague, and they leave a confused 0L grasping at straws.

Second, if I were to specialize in Maritime law, and start out at a smaller more maritime centric boutique, what salary ranges would I be approaching?

Finally, can anyone touch on starting salary points for Maritime boutiques in major markets?

Thanks very much for anyone who takes the time

[quakeroats]

160,000 mardi gras beads.

[Aqualibrium]

The top firms in Nola pay 100k.

[Anonymous Loser]

Second, if I were to specialize in Maritime law, and start out at a smaller more maritime centric boutique, what salary ranges would I be approaching?

Finally, can anyone touch on starting salary points for Maritime boutiques in major markets?

The majority of the larger New Orleans firms handle maritime matters: within the Gulf South, this is probably your best option within that practice area.

In other markets, when I last checked, several of the New York boutiques were offering $120-160k, and the large firms with established maritime practice groups were of course offering market rate.* Houston boutiques were somewhat lower, offering ~$120-$140k at the top end, but ~$90k seemed more common. Outside of the Gulf South, I think it's difficult to discern any true trends: large national firms may have an office that handles a fair amount of maritime litigation, and there are a handful of small to mid-size West Coast firms that offer market rate or slightly lower, but beyond that it's likely that starting salaries are well below market rate.


* This was when Rule B attachments were still big business in S.D.N.Y.

[MPMP]

The top firms in Nola pay 100k.

The top firms in NOLA may pay more than 100k. I've seen Adams & Reese listed at 130, and the NALP directory shows them as paying from 95-132?

[Aberzombie1892]

I am a 0L considering life at Tulane, and I have a few questions about the local legal market within the city.

First, aside from the 3 NLJ 250 firms in the city, what is the market value for starting associates? The firm sites are all very vague, and they leave a confused 0L grasping at straws.

Second, if I were to specialize in Maritime law, and start out at a smaller more maritime centric boutique, what salary ranges would I be approaching?

Finally, can anyone touch on starting salary points for Maritime boutiques in major markets?

Thanks very much for anyone who takes the time

There are more than three NLJ 250 firms in the city. If you that info from nalpdirectory.com, it's outdated and has been for awhile - not just for Louisiana, but for every state/city. I believe that this is because when the recession hit, a lot of mid and large firms removed their listings because they were being flooded with resumes.

The market rate for the city is between $85,000-$100,000 (slightly less than the market rates in Birmingham or Jackson).

I have no idea about you third question.

[olderlawyer]

At least one of the firms which pays top dollar in N.O. doesn't even practice admiralty law, so it's hard to say. Admiralty is a good practice in the sense that it is a unique area but on the other hand your mobility will be limited, not just geographically but within the firms in the city of New Orleans. Some of the work that is important to admiralty practices has evaporated due to the moratorium on offshore drilling and some of the work also ends up in Houston just because the firms there are the gorillas in the room when big cases are involved (think oil spill litigation.) If you're committed to New Orleans and a NALP firm I'd be more flexible about what I wanted to do and not limit myself to admiralty. If you're committed to admiralty then you need to be flexible geographically and not worry about getting highest salary--you might get a great offer in Mobile (or from a New Orleans firm with a Mobile office) or in Houston. In Houston if you applied for admiralty jobs only you probably wouldn't be getting the highest salaries available in Houston but what you're offered there might be the plum admiralty job in the country that year.