Lawyers at former SOS James A Baker III's law firm to start at $140,000/yr

[Bozita]

Business must be good.

And a lot of their clients are well-oiled, if you'll excuse the expression.



http://www.legalweek.com/ViewItem.asp?id=28201

Chicago leaders boost base salary base

Chicago’s top firms have raised their associate base rate salaries to $135,000 (£77,000), following raises in other major US markets. Firms making the hike to $135,000 in Chicago include McDermott Will & Emery, Winston & Strawn, Jenner & Block and Katten Muchin Rosenman. McDermott announced it would match the new benchmark of $145,000 (£83,000) set in New York last month. Texas has also become embroiled in the salary war, with local leader Baker Botts boosting Texas first-year associates’ salaries to $140,000 (£80,000).

Author: Legal Week
Source: Legal Week
Start Date: 23/03/2006 00:00
End Date: 30/03/2006 00:00

[ShockediSay]

1. Lobby Lawyers?

Betcha they don't make that kind of money doing much else but influence peddling, selling out the public interest.

[dweller]

2. $115k is the starting salary

for lawyers this year, according to what my da read recently, and then immediately began bugging me to recommend to my daughter who is studying 1st year college in Early Childhood Ed.

it won't fly i told him. My dearest daughter, who began her second year of primary with a teacher that had one rule for the class, which she has lived to this day...'No Put Downs'...could never be a lawyer. She will succeed as a teacher of that i'm sure, especially if she continues with that maxim she learned from her 2nd grade teacher, and passes it on to her students.

and the world will be a better place for it.
dp

[Coyote_Bandit]

4. Source?

That probably is the starting salary for first year attorneys at the large prestigious law firms in major metropolitan areas of the country. Those would be the firms that recruit from the top graduates at the most elite law schools.

Across the rest of the country you will find that well over half of all attorneys are fully self-employed in the practice of law because they could not otherwise find employment. You will find some public defenders who are lucky to earn $25,000 annually. And you will find more than a few criminal defense attorneys who take part of their payment in the form of barter for items such as jewelry. A starting salary of $115,000 is a pipe dream for most young attorneys.

I am licensed in two states. One of those states regularly surveys its membership. Male attorneys earn an average of half of the average general practice medical practicioner. Female attorneys earn half of what male attorneys earn.

[dweller]

5. he read it in

the N&O i suspect. So i guess you could look there. I didn't bother with finding out whether or not it was accurate, since i have no interest. I'll ask him sometime.

N&O= news and observer, NC paper.

dp

[Coyote_Bandit]

7. Thanks! n/t

[Bake]

8. No put downs? Thus can never be a lawyer?

That's (a) unnecessary, (b) stereotypical, and (c) just WRONG, at least when you apply it to an entire profession.

So, tell ya what: next time you need somebody to defend you, next time you need help with a will, contract, or deed, next time you need somebody to get your wrongly-accused kid out of jail, next time the state infringes on your constitutional rights, next time you need help with a divorce, etc. (you get the picture), call your elementary school teacher. I'm sure she/he will be able to help.

Bake

(Yes, I'm a lawyer and as a general rule I don't put people down.)

[dweller]

9. nice put down.

a,b, and probably c.

look, my point was: my daughter has a gift that will work extremely well with children, and the last thing i would do is try to steer her into a profession unsuited for her just for the $$.

But of course you assume i will be in need of a lawyer one day, regardless of the fact that i prefer to live my life without the need of your defense, thank you very much. Been through a divorce, child custody dispute, baseless accusations thrown at me, etc. and succeeded in them all DESPITE what little help supposedly well meaning lawyers attempted to do for me. In the end, my children's honesty and being able to recognize what was right from wrong, was all it took for a judge to decide i was the stable parent and grant me full custody. NOT ONCE did a lawyer help me attain any rights with my children.


but i'll give you the benefit of the doubt: just curious, how many cases, as you have described above, in the past year have you taken on pro bono for someone unjustly accused and unable to afford a lawyer?

of course, if it's none of my business, just say so.
dp

[Crazy Guggenheim]

3. I'm not defending Baker but he could be making more than that.

He could go into private practice and bill at $300/hr.

:popcorn: :popcorn:

[sandnsea]

6. It's his private practice

And he most certainly IS making more than that. That's the salary for an entry-level lawyer at his law firm, not HIS salary or profit.