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Starting Salaries - What New Law Graduates Earn - Class of 2010

NALP Bulletin, November 2011


Class of 2010 — Full-Time Reported Salaries by Employer or Job Type

Employer or Job Type PERCENT OF REPORTED SALARIES WHICH WERE: National Median National Mean Most Frequently Reported Salaries # of Salaries Reported
$40,000 or Less $40,001 - 55,000 $55,001 - 75,000 $75,001 - 100,000 More than $100,000
All Types 11.3% 26.5% 23.1% 9.6% 29.5% $63,000 $84,111 $160,000 (18.4%) / $50,000 (5.5%) 18,398
Academic 32.8 38.2 18.9 7.3 2.7 47,000 50,970 * / 55,000 (6.9) 259
Business 11.8 22.0 31.8 20.8 13.5 65,000 72,669 60,000 (6.7) / 50,000 (6.0) 1,639
    Bar Passage Req'd 7.0 23.1 35.6 23.0 11.3 68,000 72,267 60,000 (7.3) / 75,000 (6.8) 618
    JD Preferred 12.0 24.2 32.1 17.7 13.9 65,000 72,695 50,000 (7.6) / 60,000 (6.9) 582
    Other Professional 13.3 17.7 27.4 23.6 18.0 70,000 77,066 60,000 (5.6) / ** 390
    Consulting — 18.8 — 35.4 28.2 17.7 75,000 81,433 *** / 80,000 (6.1) 181
    In-house 5.0 16.2 38.3 26.1 14.4 70,000 77,210 75,000 (7.7) / 70,000 (7.5) 402
    Management 9.4 16.2 27.2 24.6 22.5 75,000 83,797 60,000 (7.3) / 70,000 (6.3) 191
    Temp Legal 7.1 64.3 19.6 — 8.9 — 49,000 54,069 52,000 (12.5) / 44,850 (10.7) 56
    Other Jobs 18.0 24.8 29.7 16.6 10.9 60,000 67,111 60,000 (6.8) / 50,000 (5.9) 809
Judicial Clerkships 11.7 48.7 — 39.6 — 0.0 51,900 51,456 60,000 (8.0) / 50,000 (6.3) 2,713
Government 17.1 40.6 34.2 6.4 1.7 52,000 55,014 50,000 (7.5) / 40,000 (6.8) 2,515
    Federal — All Jobs 6.4 26.4 53.2 10.9 3.1 62,000 62,437 60,000 (8.7) / 62,467 (7.1) 1,131
    State — All Jobs 31.6 52.0 13.9 — 2.4 — 44,000 46,743 40,000 (13.9) / 50,000 (8.5) 661
    Local — All Jobs 20.2 52.3 23.3 — 4.2 — 50,000 50,975 50,000 (11.4) / 40,000 (7.9) 708
    Prosecution Jobs 24.2 55.2 19.1 — 1.5 — 49,000 48,527 50,000 (13.2) / 50,000 (10.2) 665
    Military 12.6 32.7 40.3 11.9 2.5 60,000 60,455 60,000 (11.9) / 50,000 (9.0) 278
    Other Jobs 14.6 37.1 38.1 7.8 2.4 55,000 56,619 60,000 (6.8) / 50,000 (5.5) 884
Private Practice 6.6 15.2 16.3 11.8 50.1 104,000 106,444 160,000 (32.9) / 50,000 (4.7) 10,262
Public Interest 37.7 52.4 8.9 — 1.0 — 42,900 44,087 40,000 (12.9) / 42,000 (7.4) 958
    Public Defenders 26.4 64.7 8.8 0.0 0.0 43,000 45,614 40,000 (15.5) / 42,000 (14.9) 329

Note: The number of salaries reported for all types of employers exceeds the sum of salaries reported for individual employer types because not all jobs with a salary reported included an employer type. Figures in parentheses in the column labeled "Most Frequently Reported Salaries" indicate the percentage of salaries reported at that level. A few salaries reported for law firm solo practice are excluded from all salary analyses for the Class of 2010.

* $30,000 and $45,000 each accounted for 7.2% of reported salaries.
** $70,000 and $100,000 each accounted for 5.1% of reported salaries.
*** $50,000 and $75,000 each accounted for 6.6% of reported salaries.



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