<p>Income has much more to do with where you work, and not necessarily how well you do it. I have read some dreadful writing samples from associates at some of the top law firms in the country. Those associates make anywhere from $160k to well over $200k. I have read some excellent samples from very talented, hard working associates from firms in which they make a third of the big law salary. Being smart doesn’t guarantee that one will be a good lawyer. Some excellent lawyers make bad career choices - many did that in the dot com bubble. They went for the golden ring and it came up tin. Some of them never got back on track again - fine lawyers not making a lot of money now.</p>