NALP Bulletin, September 2009 

In the last 14 years, law firms of all sizes have increased their first-year salaries, with salaries more than doubling in the largest firms. Tables 1 and 2 provide a 14-year overview of law firm starting salaries, based on NALP's annual Associate Salary Survey. The figures in these tables thus reflect salary figures reported by law firms, rather than salaries reported by law school graduates obtaining jobs in private practice. (The school-reported figures appeared in the August 2009 NALP Bulletin article "What Do New Lawyers Earn? A 15-Year Retrospective as Reported by Law School Graduates.")

The four largest employment markets for new law graduates drove this growth. In three of these markets (Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC), salaries have more than doubled. Salaries in the largest market, New York City, have not doubled because the median was considerably higher than in any of the other three markets in 1996. New York was the first to reach the $160,000 prevailing salary mark in 2006. (See Table 2.)

In contrast, salaries in other sectors have increased, but at nowhere near the rate to match salary increases in law firms. Although long-term trend information on salaries from public sector employers is not available, salaries reported by graduates taking jobs with these employers suggest increases of 40% to 50%. (See Table 3.)

Table 1. Median Starting Salaries for First-Year Associates by Firm Size

* % change from 1999-2009.
Note: From 1999 on, a single figure was compiled for the 2-25 size category. Salaries reported as of April 1, except 1996-1998. Medians for each size range are based on firms in that size range responding to the survey for the year specified. Some medians appear to decline; this is a result of a different pool of respondents in each year rather than a decrease in salaries on the part of any one firm.

Table 2. Median Starting Salaries for First-Year Associates in Firms of 251 or More Lawyers — Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC

* Change from 1997 - 2009.
Note: Salaries reported as of April 1, except 1996-1998. Medians are based on firms responding to the survey for the year specified. Some medians appear to decline; this is a result of a different pool of respondents in each year rather than a decrease in salaries on the part of any one firm.

Table 3. Median Starting Salaries for Selected Non-Firm Lawyer Jobs

Note: Figures are based on salaries reported by graduates on NALP's graduate employment survey for these two classes.