NALP Bulletin, October 2002
A comparison of selected indicators reported in the 1992, 1996, and 2002 Surveys of Legal Personnel are shown in the table below. Although more individuals with primary responsibility for recruiting now have a J.D. degree, levels of experience in the field as a whole have declined, while the median salary has increased more than 45% in the same ten-year period. The extent of marketing/public relations duties is similar to what it was ten years ago, but is down from the higher level recorded in the mid-’90s.
Legal Recruitment — Then and Now
Primary Office-wide
Professional
|
1992 |
1996 |
2002 | |
|
Percent with JD or LLM |
6.5% |
4.1% |
14.4% |
|
Percent in current job 3 years or less |
46% |
38% |
64% |
|
Percent in field more than 3 years |
81% |
78% |
65% |
|
Median salary |
$46,000* |
$48,000 |
$67,250 |
|
Time spent on attorney evaluation and development |
— |
— |
13%** |
|
Prevalence of “other” duties: | |||
|
CLE compliance |
28% |
31% |
29% |
|
Paralegal hiring/supervision |
27% |
31% |
22% |
|
Marketing/public relations |
20% |
27% |
19% |
|
Office management |
11% |
15% |
13% |
*The 1992 survey requested a salary range rather than an actual figure. The
$46,000 figure is estimated based on the distribution of ranges reported.
**Comparable information from 2000 indicates a small increase in the average
amount of time spent on attorney evaluation and development.
