Top Law Schools

I attend a T-13 and struck out st OCI, so the big law train seems to be leaving the station. I worked for the fed gov a few years before law school and was a gs-7 when I left in a job that tapped out at gs-9. The conventional wisdom seems to be you work big law for a few years then lateral over to gov, but are there any stories of ppl who went from law school directly into those jobs?

All government salaries are publicly posted so just use google to research the salaries of potential jobs you are interested in. Entry level hiring for the federal government is done through the honors program, which is more competitive than biglaw. State and local government hiring/salary will all be dependent on the place. If you want a high salary aim for a city/state with high taxes/high COL.

Directly out of law school? No, entry level jobs for attorneys with no experience are usually gs-11, which is right about $60k for most geographic regions. You can get to gs-14 in three years (for most jobs), which is $100k. Pay is higher in high cost of living areas like D.C., but not enough to make up the difference.

Not $100k+ but close. The financial regulatory agencies are not on the GS scale. I interned at one my 1L year (FINRA, SEC, OCC, CFPB). You can come in straight from law school through the various honors programs. Starting salary at my agency was right around $90k I believe (working in the DC headquarters, obviously). I think you break $100k after a year or two.

Yes, the Federal Reserve Board pays 122K starting, but they are done hiring for next summer.

Yes, at some financial regulatory agencies. SEC, FDIC, and OCC all start at a little over 100k. Of course these are extremely competitive (especially SEC) and don't necessarily have spots every year. Unless you have relevant experience, these are generally harder to get than biglaw.

Also, some ADA and other city/county positions in the Bay Area in California start at close to or over 100k.