In reality, most people believe that lawyers make a lot more money than they do. While it is true that top lawyers earn exorbitant salaries and that even moderately successful lawyers earn a lot, many lawyers earn a pittance in comparison to other professions. In fact, many lawyers graduate from law school without a job in the field of law, and are forced to either try to make a name for themselves in private practice or work another job while looking for work at a firm.
Law school is extremely competitive, and how well students perform has a direct impact on how much money they will make as lawyers later in life. Because law schools keep such close track of their students, law firms looking to hire can make direct hires based on the student’s percentile rank in their class. This means that top firms in top cities tend to accept only the best lawyers, whereas those who scored in the lower percentiles of their class may be lucky to find work at any firm, let alone one that pays well.
A law student who excelled in their class and was hired a large law firm in a top market like New York City can expect to earn more than $150,000 US Dollars (USD) in their first year as an associate at the upper echelons. Second-tier students can expect to earn around $120,000 USD in their first year, with students in even smaller cities earning closer to $70,000 USD. At the other end of the spectrum, students working in small towns or at smaller firms in slightly larger markets can earn as little as $35,000 USD in their first year as an associate, and advancement for some of these lawyers may never come.
There are a variety of reasons why lawyers earn so much money, though many of these reasons are not entirely satisfactory to many people. The most common reason is the financial investment required to become a lawyer. Unlike many graduate programs in the sciences or liberal arts, there is typically no funding available for those wishing to pursue a career as a lawyer, forcing them to pay for their education either out of pocket or through loans. As a result, many people graduate from law school with a debt of around $150,000 USD, and the risk of not being able to pay it off means that those who do find work make more money than those in professions that do not require such a financial investment.
Many people also believe that lawyers earn so much because of the lifestyle they must live as lawyers. Many lawyers work fourteen to sixteen-hour days and are always available for emergencies. They may be expected to virtually live in an office during difficult cases, which can last weeks, months, or even years in some cases. This hardship is thought to be far greater than that of many other professions, which helps to justify the compensation that lawyers receive each year.
Of course, some people believe that lawyers make too much money for what they do. Engineers also have to pay a lot of money to go to a professional school, but their salaries are much lower than lawyers’. Nurses, like any other profession, may find themselves working nonstop, but their pay is nowhere near that of lawyers. In the end, it appears that lawyers earn exactly what the market will bear, and that their salaries will fall when there is either less demand for their services or more lawyers competing for the work that is available.