Summary: This LawCrossing chart will give you a birdseye view of the salary situation at America’s biggest firms.
If you are a hot JD with a lot to offer, or otherwise employed as a lawyer and looking to up your game, consider checking out this article and chart on LawCrossing comparing the first year salaries at the major firms in the U.S. Though the industry has had its lag, there is still plenty of success at the upper ups, with a Biglaw average around $160,000, and a few firms surpassing even that.
Of course there is more to consider than simple remuneration, such as the legal culture you will be working with, the type of people you will correspond with, the company mission – the actual living of making a living. Certainly that should be a consideration, an impression no bare chart can give you. Also, there is the tricky issue of difference of cost of living, with $160,000 in New York amounting to about $67,000 in Dallas.
Nevertheless, a quick visual survey of the Unites States sprawl, and how the big firms fit into it, can clue you in towards which direction to set your sails. When considering what first years and second years make, and what sort of billable hours they are expecting, you can get a fast impression of what firms are worth considering and why.
Click here to view the full article and chart featured the top paying law firms of 2015.