DAs make less than $40K/year? Forum

[killer133]

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/05/12/roo ... od=WSJBlog

I just read this today. Seriously, any job I get right now I would get paid more than that. This is just ridiculous after having how much ever debt you have for law school.

[Nebby]

Flame.

[RPK34]

Honestly, the ADA pay in Massachusetts is embarassing.

[killer133]

How do people pay back their loans? Do they qualify for IBR or PI forgiven loan for 10 yrs or something? This just sounds ridiculous to me. My old job as military I made near $50K/yr. Damn.......

[Single-Malt-Liquor]

Just el oh el at the comment in the article.

The labor market is not one cent more than it is required to attract and retain a worker with the qualifications to do the listed job. What’s with the judgmental relativism valuing lawyers over custodians [first year ADAs make less than new custodians]?

[Nebby]

How do people pay back their loans? Do they qualify for IBR or PI forgiven loan for 10 yrs or something? This just sounds ridiculous to me. My old job as military I made near $50K/yr. Damn.......

Some schools have Loan Repayment Assistance Programs that, coupled with the federal IBR/PAYE 10 year PI forgiveness, eliminate most student loan payments.

[Kronk]

None of the DAs in my flyover state make less than 50K. Maybe in ruralbumfucknowheretown you make 48K or so.

I just interviewed for a couple positions and the starting salaries were 56K, 52.5K, and 55K. Massachusetts is TTT.

[sighsigh]

Wow. I wonder what the forces are that lead to lower salaries for prosecutors than janitors (a supply/demand issue doesn't explain why janitors have higher salaries, unless they are unionized). Plus you'd think the state would value prosecutors like they do police... I could maybe understand if public defenders had salaries this low.

[84651846190]

Wow. I wonder what the forces are that lead to lower salaries for prosecutors than janitors (a supply/demand issue doesn't explain why janitors have higher salaries, unless they are unionized). Plus you'd think the state would value prosecutors like they do police... I could maybe understand if public defenders had salaries this low.

A bunch of morons think working as a DA will lead to something higher paying in the future. It usually doesn't.

Why are people still going to law school?

[dowu]

The office is given a certain budget every year. They still have to pay the older attorneys the 100k+ or so, leaving them with less money to pay newer attorneys.

The problem still boils down to shit boomers who will work until they die. They're sucking up the budget and then wonder why the newer attorneys cannot afford to promptly pay their debt.

[84651846190]

The office is given a certain budget every year. They still have to pay the older attorneys the 100k+ or so, leaving them with less money to pay newer attorneys.

The problem still boils down to shit boomers who will work until they die. They're sucking up the budget and then wonder why the newer attorneys cannot afford to promptly pay their debt.

And then they complain about how Millennials aren't buying houses, etc.

[killer133]

None of the DAs in my flyover state make less than 50K. Maybe in ruralbumfucknowheretown you make 48K or so.

I just interviewed for a couple positions and the starting salaries were 56K, 52.5K, and 55K. Massachusetts is TTT.

This sounds hell lot more reasonable. I would think metropolitan area you need at least $50K to make decent living......

[killer133]

The office is given a certain budget every year. They still have to pay the older attorneys the 100k+ or so, leaving them with less money to pay newer attorneys.

The problem still boils down to shit boomers who will work until they die. They're sucking up the budget and then wonder why the newer attorneys cannot afford to promptly pay their debt.

I did not know how this system worked! Thanks for explanation. I wonder how long it would take for incoming DA who makes $45K to be able to make $80K. Maybe 10 yrs? If I can make near 6 digit after 10 yrs, that wouldn't be too bad.

[dowu]

The office is given a certain budget every year. They still have to pay the older attorneys the 100k+ or so, leaving them with less money to pay newer attorneys.

The problem still boils down to shit boomers who will work until they die. They're sucking up the budget and then wonder why the newer attorneys cannot afford to promptly pay their debt.

I did not know how this system worked! Thanks for explanation. I wonder how long it would take for incoming DA who makes $45K to be able to make $80K. Maybe 10 yrs? If I can make near 6 digit after 10 yrs, that wouldn't be too bad.

certain government organizations offer raises every year. At the federal level, you move up a step every year. Also the government allocates money for cost of living pay increases.

[swampman]

The office is given a certain budget every year. They still have to pay the older attorneys the 100k+ or so, leaving them with less money to pay newer attorneys.

The problem still boils down to shit boomers who will work until they die. They're sucking up the budget and then wonder why the newer attorneys cannot afford to promptly pay their debt.

I did not know how this system worked! Thanks for explanation. I wonder how long it would take for incoming DA who makes $45K to be able to make $80K. Maybe 10 yrs? If I can make near 6 digit after 10 yrs, that wouldn't be too bad.

In a lot of states this information is available online. In my area pay starts at around 50k. After 6 years most are making 60-70k, and after 10 years most people are either in supervisory/management roles making 80-120k, or they've got kids at home and they're happy working 40 hour weeks churning through misdos and still pulling in 70k. The vast majority leave after 4-6 years though (there are only so many supervisory spots, little turnover once people actually snag those positions, and office politics plays as much role as trial skills).

[swampman]

Also the government allocates money for cost of living pay increases.

My state hasn't done this in like a decade.

[killer133]

In a lot of states this information is available online. In my area pay starts at around 50k. After 6 years most are making 60-70k, and after 10 years most people are either in supervisory/management roles making 80-120k, or they've got kids at home and they're happy working 40 hour weeks churning through misdos and still pulling in 70k. The vast majority leave after 4-6 years though (there are only so many supervisory spots, little turnover once people actually snag those positions, and office politics plays as much role as trial skills).

Thanks very much! I will look it up. After 4-6 yrs do they usually go to small-mid law associate position or open their own firm? I wonder where they would usually end up. 4-6 yrs sound like not enough experience to open your own firm...

[Kronk]

In a lot of states this information is available online. In my area pay starts at around 50k. After 6 years most are making 60-70k, and after 10 years most people are either in supervisory/management roles making 80-120k, or they've got kids at home and they're happy working 40 hour weeks churning through misdos and still pulling in 70k. The vast majority leave after 4-6 years though (there are only so many supervisory spots, little turnover once people actually snag those positions, and office politics plays as much role as trial skills).

Thanks very much! I will look it up. After 4-6 yrs do they usually go to small-mid law associate position or open their own firm? I wonder where they would usually end up. 4-6 yrs sound like not enough experience to open your own firm...

Probably is for DAs. You get experience early.

After 4-6 years though, a lot of them are still DAs. I know plenty of 15-ish year DAs. You can move into corporate law, a law firm that does trials, or criminal defense though.

[swampman]

Thanks very much! I will look it up. After 4-6 yrs do they usually go to small-mid law associate position or open their own firm? I wonder where they would usually end up. 4-6 yrs sound like not enough experience to open your own firm...

After 4-6 years you've probably first-chaired complicated drug, gang, homicides, etc. Plenty of solid trial experience. Obviously this stuff varies a lot from office to office, and I only have first-hand experience with one. But the most common seems to be small/mid-sized plaintiff's firms or insurance defense (often much more boring trials than what they were doing at the DAs office, but better pay), or state agencies for slightly more pay. Some go into criminal defense, joining another established lawyer is easiest since starting your own shop takes some start-up money and at least in my area business has not been good the past few years so fewer have gone this route.

Much less common (and probably closer to 10 years in) AUSA and local judgeships are possibilities.

Obviously there are plenty of people who stay at the DAs office until retirement. But the higher up you get the more likely you are to get pushed out if a new DA gets elected, which limits people's staying power in places where there's some turnover in DAs. They will probably be happy for you stick around as long as you want just doing trials without moving up the supervisory/management chain, but that most likely means your salary will be capped too.

[sd5289]

No question DA salary is lower than you would get at Biglaw (obvi) and a lot of other gigs, but sub-$40K for MA is straight up ridiculous. Here the best DA's office to get into starts at $60K and the others nearby are high $50K. Still a pittance, but certainly more reasonable than below $40K.

[killer133]

Thanks very much! I will look it up. After 4-6 yrs do they usually go to small-mid law associate position or open their own firm? I wonder where they would usually end up. 4-6 yrs sound like not enough experience to open your own firm...

After 4-6 years you've probably first-chaired complicated drug, gang, homicides, etc. Plenty of solid trial experience. Obviously this stuff varies a lot from office to office, and I only have first-hand experience with one. But the most common seems to be small/mid-sized plaintiff's firms or insurance defense (often much more boring trials than what they were doing at the DAs office, but better pay), or state agencies for slightly more pay. Some go into criminal defense, joining another established lawyer is easiest since starting your own shop takes some start-up money and at least in my area business has not been good the past few years so fewer have gone this route.

Much less common (and probably closer to 10 years in) AUSA and local judgeships are possibilities.

Obviously there are plenty of people who stay at the DAs office until retirement. But the higher up you get the more likely you are to get pushed out if a new DA gets elected, which limits people's staying power in places where there's some turnover in DAs. They will probably be happy for you stick around as long as you want just doing trials without moving up the supervisory/management chain, but that most likely means your salary will be capped too.

Thanks for explanations! I'm learning a lot today from you! (I only have two friends who work in biglaw and don't know much about this track. I wanted to know what are career paths for local DAs. Thank you very much for educating me!

[swampman]

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