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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]?
Some schools have Loan Repayment Assistance Programs that, coupled with the federal IBR/PAYE 10 year PI forgiveness, eliminate most student loan payments.killer133 wrote: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.......
A bunch of morons think working as a DA will lead to something higher paying in the future. It usually doesn't.sighsigh wrote: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.
And then they complain about how Millennials aren't buying houses, etc.dowu wrote: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.
This sounds hell lot more reasonable. I would think metropolitan area you need at least $50K to make decent living......Kronk wrote: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.
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 wrote: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.
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.killer133 wrote: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 wrote: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.
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).killer133 wrote: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 wrote: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.
My state hasn't done this in like a decade.dowu wrote:Also the government allocates money for cost of living pay increases.
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...swampman wrote: 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).
Probably is for DAs. You get experience early.killer133 wrote: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...swampman wrote: 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).
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.killer133 wrote: 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...
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 wrote: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.killer133 wrote: 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...
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.