LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS Forum

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techthrowaway

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by techthrowaway » Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:52 pm

PB&J.D. wrote:
Sat Oct 03, 2020 4:34 pm
For the FAANG anon and techthrowaway, are these first (and only) offer numbers, or did you plan to negotiate? Did you get a sense of whether there’s much room to do so without competing in-house offers?
I bumped up base by $5k, but was told the others were fixed for the level of the role (unsurprising bc my company is a large dinosaur; you can usually negotiate for pre-IPO or smaller public companies). From my experience, market pay for non-FAANG 3YOE averages around $150-160k base/$200k total comp, so I was happy with my package.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Oct 06, 2020 1:34 am

PB&J.D. wrote:
Sat Oct 03, 2020 4:34 pm
For the FAANG anon and techthrowaway, are these first (and only) offer numbers, or did you plan to negotiate? Did you get a sense of whether there’s much room to do so without competing in-house offers?
I did negotiate my offer, but only because my recruiter suggested that there was a bit of flexibility (note: my recruiter works for the company--not an agency). My base package didn't change, but I did get an additional $50k sign-on bonus paid on my first paycheck, plus $25k for relocation (there was no relocation package at all when I interviewed). I wouldn't have negotiated if not for the recruiter.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:46 pm

Size: Investment fund
Experience: 4 years
Location: Good midwest (Chicago /Minneapolis / Denver)
Position: Investment professional
Hours: 50-80+ during live deals
Comp: 150k base + 80-120k bonus; +100k carry next year
Benefits: No fee co-invest, 50% 401k match, free health insurance (single), good other benefits, top tier vacation policy.

synergy

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by synergy » Thu Oct 08, 2020 4:35 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Thu Oct 08, 2020 3:46 pm
Size: Investment fund
Experience: 4 years
Location: Good midwest (Chicago /Minneapolis / Denver)
Position: Investment professional
Hours: 50-80+ during live deals
Comp: 150k base + 80-120k bonus; +100k carry next year
Benefits: No fee co-invest, 50% 401k match, free health insurance (single), good other benefits, top tier vacation policy.
Sounds amazing, can I ask how you transitioned to the investment side? I would appreciate a PM if you're willing to share.

NoLongerALurker

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by NoLongerALurker » Mon Oct 19, 2020 10:09 pm

Seen some 4th to 6th year associates exit in house to investment banks lately. What are these people usually landing at? VP I assume? What kind of salary are they getting generally? Anyone know?

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chiguy99

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by chiguy99 » Mon Nov 02, 2020 12:54 pm

NoLongerALurker wrote:
Mon Oct 19, 2020 10:09 pm
Seen some 4th to 6th year associates exit in house to investment banks lately. What are these people usually landing at? VP I assume? What kind of salary are they getting generally? Anyone know?
bump. Hoping someone can chime in.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 03, 2020 5:34 pm

NYC Boutique Investment Fund
8 years of experience, some of them Accounting related
$160k Base, $75k Bonus. No fee Coinvestment, free health, vision and dental for me, spouse and two kids. Unlimited vacation. Hours are 40-45 regularly, no weekend work.

My role is what people call middle office. It's basically taking care of all Finance related issues, fund-raising and some legal doc drafting. It's a small Fund, so most likely i'll stay here for a few years and then jump ship to a higher title (and pay :D) role, but it depends. Since we're a small company, and i'm one of the first 20 employees, if we grow and get enough money I can stick around for longer. It helped that I'm also a CPA and had Big 4 experience.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Nov 14, 2020 8:14 pm

Location: NYC
Position: Broad corporate in-house position for a tech company.
Experience: c/o 2017 (M&A)
Comp: $190k base, $10k signing bonus, 10% annual bonus, and decent number of options.
Hours: Typically 9-6ish. Occasionally later, but the exception not the norm. 20 days PTO a year & summer Fridays.

Feels like a good comp package and there's a lot of opportunity for growth, so I'm probably going to take it.

WhatIsLaw69

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by WhatIsLaw69 » Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:56 am

It's becoming increasingly obvious that the job I want doesn't exist in law, at least right out of school. 45-55 hrs/week, 90-120k (depending on market), vision and dental, etc.

I've been looking to go to law school for a few years now, and I know how bimodal the salary is. Now that all my apps are in, I'm second guessing what's really important to me. What a weird feeling.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Nov 15, 2020 12:32 pm

-Southeastern real estate private equity firm
-Real estate deal work, fund work, general in house
-Started after 3-4 years at a firm
-$130k base and 15% target bonus
-8:00-4:30/5:00 with very rare weekend work

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nealric

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by nealric » Mon Nov 16, 2020 10:07 am

WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:56 am
It's becoming increasingly obvious that the job I want doesn't exist in law, at least right out of school. 45-55 hrs/week, 90-120k (depending on market), vision and dental, etc.

I've been looking to go to law school for a few years now, and I know how bimodal the salary is. Now that all my apps are in, I'm second guessing what's really important to me. What a weird feeling.
It does exist- it's just rare. There are a small number of large companies that hire straight out of law school in this salary range, and some regional biglaw/midlaw firms that do as well and could plausibly be 50-55 hour a week jobs. If you are willing to do 3-4years in biglaw, the universe of jobs in this pay/hours range opens considerably (federal government, in-house).

WhatIsLaw69

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by WhatIsLaw69 » Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:05 pm

nealric wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 10:07 am
WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:56 am
It's becoming increasingly obvious that the job I want doesn't exist in law, at least right out of school. 45-55 hrs/week, 90-120k (depending on market), vision and dental, etc.

I've been looking to go to law school for a few years now, and I know how bimodal the salary is. Now that all my apps are in, I'm second guessing what's really important to me. What a weird feeling.
It does exist- it's just rare. There are a small number of large companies that hire straight out of law school in this salary range, and some regional biglaw/midlaw firms that do as well and could plausibly be 50-55 hour a week jobs. If you are willing to do 3-4years in biglaw, the universe of jobs in this pay/hours range opens considerably (federal government, in-house).
Thanks for this. Everywhere (not just TLS) makes biglaw seem so unbelievably awful. I'm fortunate enough to not have to worry very much about debt due to veteran's benefits, so a traditional motivation for seeking such a job isn't there. That biglaw salary without student debt would probably be pretty nice, though. I'm only truly competitive at T20-30, so getting a biglaw job may be a moot point anyway.

I don't know. I have some soul searching to do. I value TLS' honesty.

The Lsat Airbender

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by The Lsat Airbender » Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:52 pm

WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:05 pm
nealric wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 10:07 am
WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:56 am
It's becoming increasingly obvious that the job I want doesn't exist in law, at least right out of school. 45-55 hrs/week, 90-120k (depending on market), vision and dental, etc.

I've been looking to go to law school for a few years now, and I know how bimodal the salary is. Now that all my apps are in, I'm second guessing what's really important to me. What a weird feeling.
It does exist- it's just rare. There are a small number of large companies that hire straight out of law school in this salary range, and some regional biglaw/midlaw firms that do as well and could plausibly be 50-55 hour a week jobs. If you are willing to do 3-4years in biglaw, the universe of jobs in this pay/hours range opens considerably (federal government, in-house).
Thanks for this. Everywhere (not just TLS) makes biglaw seem so unbelievably awful. I'm fortunate enough to not have to worry very much about debt due to veteran's benefits, so a traditional motivation for seeking such a job isn't there. That biglaw salary without student debt would probably be pretty nice, though. I'm only truly competitive at T20-30, so getting a biglaw job may be a moot point anyway.

I don't know. I have some soul searching to do. I value TLS' honesty.
Biglaw objectively sucks, but an important thing to remember is that a vocal minority of biglawyers hail from comfy UMC backgrounds and went KJD from a Ivy+ college where you could get A-s with your thumb up your ass to a T13 law school where median is enough for biglaw. They're hard workers, in a Type-A way, but they never truly had to grind until they became first-year associates, and it hits them like a ton of bricks. And they don't know how to deal with it because the same social forces that got them here are telling them to gun for pathern.

It's a lot more survivable if you go in clear-eyed, with some full-time work experience under your belt, and you have a meaningful exit strategy.

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WhatIsLaw69

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by WhatIsLaw69 » Tue Nov 17, 2020 1:10 am

The Lsat Airbender wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:52 pm
WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:05 pm
nealric wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 10:07 am
WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:56 am
It's becoming increasingly obvious that the job I want doesn't exist in law, at least right out of school. 45-55 hrs/week, 90-120k (depending on market), vision and dental, etc.

I've been looking to go to law school for a few years now, and I know how bimodal the salary is. Now that all my apps are in, I'm second guessing what's really important to me. What a weird feeling.
It does exist- it's just rare. There are a small number of large companies that hire straight out of law school in this salary range, and some regional biglaw/midlaw firms that do as well and could plausibly be 50-55 hour a week jobs. If you are willing to do 3-4years in biglaw, the universe of jobs in this pay/hours range opens considerably (federal government, in-house).
Thanks for this. Everywhere (not just TLS) makes biglaw seem so unbelievably awful. I'm fortunate enough to not have to worry very much about debt due to veteran's benefits, so a traditional motivation for seeking such a job isn't there. That biglaw salary without student debt would probably be pretty nice, though. I'm only truly competitive at T20-30, so getting a biglaw job may be a moot point anyway.

I don't know. I have some soul searching to do. I value TLS' honesty.
Biglaw objectively sucks, but an important thing to remember is that a vocal minority of biglawyers hail from comfy UMC backgrounds and went KJD from a Ivy+ college where you could get A-s with your thumb up your ass to a T13 law school where median is enough for biglaw. They're hard workers, in a Type-A way, but they never truly had to grind until they became first-year associates, and it hits them like a ton of bricks. And they don't know how to deal with it because the same social forces that got them here are telling them to gun for pathern.

It's a lot more survivable if you go in clear-eyed, with some full-time work experience under your belt, and you have a meaningful exit strategy.
I really appreciate this, thank you. It makes alot of sense. I guess no matter how bad things get, I'd still be in an air conditioned office, doing office work, for almost four times the pay.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:31 pm

It seems like a lot of people are making bank in house. For some perspective, I’m pulling in 145K with good benefits but no bonus/equity (at least for now) at a public company near but not in a major market. Awesome hours, rarely ever any night or weekend work. Broke out of biglaw during my third year. Not the crazy money others are getting but you can’t put a price on your happiness and sanity.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Nov 18, 2020 8:47 am

Position: small (~100 employees) HF investment analyst
Experience: Out of law school (never took the bar, but job is JD-advantage because of bankruptcy debt investing, also have MBA)
Location: SF - moving to WFH permanently so technically anywhere with a stable broadband Internet connection
Hours: 40-50 hours or more - it's up to you
Comp: 200K base, unlimited bonus potential based on performance of investments
Benefits: 6 weeks paid vacation, 100% 401K match up to 5% of base salary, full health insurance (never used it, but paystub says it costs the company $800 per month)

WhatIsLaw69

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by WhatIsLaw69 » Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:22 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Nov 18, 2020 8:47 am
Position: small (~100 employees) HF investment analyst
Experience: Out of law school (never took the bar, but job is JD-advantage because of bankruptcy debt investing, also have MBA)
Location: SF - moving to WFH permanently so technically anywhere with a stable broadband Internet connection
Hours: 40-50 hours or more - it's up to you
Comp: 200K base, unlimited bonus potential based on performance of investments
Benefits: 6 weeks paid vacation, 100% 401K match up to 5% of base salary, full health insurance (never used it, but paystub says it costs the company $800 per month)
School tier? And would this type of work be possible without the MBA?

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Tenryu

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Tenryu » Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:39 pm

WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:22 pm


School tier? And would this type of work be possible without the MBA?
T6. Yes, but you'll have more options coming out of an MBA program.

Sackboy

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Sackboy » Sun Nov 29, 2020 12:09 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:31 pm
I’m pulling in 145K . . . not in a major market
You'll find that a lot of the people on here (though, not all) making $200-$300k are located in major markets with HCOL. Their $250k is your $145k.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:23 pm

Industry: large public healthcare company
Experience: 4 years small and midlaw
Location: East Coast metro
Position: corporate counsel
Hours: approx 9-6 with almost no weekend work. Been WFH since start but not sure how long that will last.
Comp: $165k base + 20% bonus. $10K cash relocation bonus. $75K in company stock at hire w/ 4 yr vest.
Benefits: Typical package (okay premiums) + company paid supplemental insurance for execs
Work: Legal team is just GC and myself. M&A + general in house.

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Dec 03, 2020 2:54 pm

Put this in the In-House salary thread a while ago but just saw this one pop up as well, so I'll share here.

Industry: Non-banking F100 financial company
Experience: 0, entering next fall after graduation
Location: NYC
Position: Associate, going to rotate through the various legal department groups
Hours: Not sure, but based on my time there this summer, can't imagine it's more than in the 40-50 range
Comp: $115k base, $10k signing bonus, up to $8200 performance
Benefits: 9% 401k, good deals on healthcare/dental/vision, 24 days PTO

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Dec 11, 2020 4:11 am

Made a move during COVID times, and hope this could help folks in the senior associate/counsel range:

Industry: White collar/healthcare
Experience: 8-10 years, including both biglaw and in-house time. Made the move from an in-house role, though.
Location: Large, non-NY market
Position: Counsel at a lower V100 firm
Hours: Seems like it's around 1900-2100. More than I worked in-house, but less than I did in biglaw. Bizdev time counts as billable, though, so that makes a big difference
Comp: Around 300,000 base, with a 100,000 expected bonus, plus business credit for matters brought in
Benefits: Fairly standard, except it also includes a decent 401(k) match I didn't see at other firms

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feminist.supporter

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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by feminist.supporter » Fri Feb 12, 2021 2:41 pm

The Lsat Airbender wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:52 pm
WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:05 pm
nealric wrote:
Mon Nov 16, 2020 10:07 am
WhatIsLaw69 wrote:
Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:56 am
It's becoming increasingly obvious that the job I want doesn't exist in law, at least right out of school. 45-55 hrs/week, 90-120k (depending on market), vision and dental, etc.

I've been looking to go to law school for a few years now, and I know how bimodal the salary is. Now that all my apps are in, I'm second guessing what's really important to me. What a weird feeling.
It does exist- it's just rare. There are a small number of large companies that hire straight out of law school in this salary range, and some regional biglaw/midlaw firms that do as well and could plausibly be 50-55 hour a week jobs. If you are willing to do 3-4years in biglaw, the universe of jobs in this pay/hours range opens considerably (federal government, in-house).
Thanks for this. Everywhere (not just TLS) makes biglaw seem so unbelievably awful. I'm fortunate enough to not have to worry very much about debt due to veteran's benefits, so a traditional motivation for seeking such a job isn't there. That biglaw salary without student debt would probably be pretty nice, though. I'm only truly competitive at T20-30, so getting a biglaw job may be a moot point anyway.

I don't know. I have some soul searching to do. I value TLS' honesty.
Biglaw objectively sucks, but an important thing to remember is that a vocal minority of biglawyers hail from comfy UMC backgrounds and went KJD from a Ivy+ college where you could get A-s with your thumb up your ass to a T13 law school where median is enough for biglaw. They're hard workers, in a Type-A way, but they never truly had to grind until they became first-year associates, and it hits them like a ton of bricks. And they don't know how to deal with it because the same social forces that got them here are telling them to gun for pathern.

It's a lot more survivable if you go in clear-eyed, with some full-time work experience under your belt, and you have a meaningful exit strategy.
THIS.

THIS IS ON POINT. Too many over-achievers in T14s that are just so out of touch with reality and being in that environment really makes one lose perspective on life.

Anonymous User
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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 15, 2021 2:37 am

Industry: Hedge Fund
Experience: 9-11 years. 5 years at a firm prior to going in-house.
Location: NYC
Position: Legal Counsel
Hours: Roughly 50-55 hours/week.
Comp: 180k base, roughly 600k bonus.

Anonymous User
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Re: LEGAL SALARY DATAPOINTS

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:45 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 2:37 am
Industry: Hedge Fund
Experience: 9-11 years. 5 years at a firm prior to going in-house.
Location: NYC
Position: Legal Counsel
Hours: Roughly 50-55 hours/week.
Comp: 180k base, roughly 600k bonus.
How do you get 600K bonus? It's only possible when you get carry as a in-house counsel which is unheard of..?

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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