|
Those are the rare ones - USNews is good for a few things. Thumb through the back of the grad student edition, in the "law school" section. You'll find that, even at first-tier schools, many students are making in the $60,000 range - not shabby, but that's what I would earn in engineering. If you look at lower-tier schools, you'll see that it's not uncommon for the 50% range of private practice attorneys (emphasis) to be around $40k - $60k.
My understanding is that salary depends on the size of the firm, billable hour requirements (and suggestions!), location (NYC will pay more than WV), and practice area (tax or patent paying more than your average criminal defense). Just a thought - but if you go to law school expecting to be paid a six-figure salary at the end, think again. It's not a given and will require three grueling years and (quite often) huge debt to get there. Just a thought - I'll have to out-earn over of my fellow private-practice grads to *break even* - that is, net the same amount of money after law school and loans that I would be if I stayed in engineering. Sobering thought. For many of us, law school is a financial hardship, not a means to quick wealth.
|