The Average Salary of a Beginning Lawyer

Process to Become a Lawyer

In order to become a lawyer, an individual must first complete a four year undergraduate program resulting in a Bachelor's degree in the major of her choice. She must then spend three years in law school and receive a Juris Doctorate degree. The last phase in the process requires her to pass the state bar examination in the state where she plans to practice as well as pass the multi-state professional responsibility examination. Individual states may have additional licensing requirements.

The beginning salary of a lawyer will be dependent on a number of factors. First, the geographical area where he plans to practice will greatly affect his salary. A small town lawyer will generally make less than a lawyer in a large metropolitan area. The law school he attended and his class ranking may also have an impact on his job offers and therefore the salary he is offered. Finally, whether he chooses to go into civil service or accepts a job in the private sector will affect his salary.

Some lawyers choose to accept positions within local, state or federal agencies. Examples include prosecutors, city attorneys, judicial clerks or school board lawyers. Virtually all government agencies and offices have lawyers that work directly for them. Beginning salaries for a government lawyer tend to be significantly less than for those that enter the private sector. The latest figures available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate that the average beginning salary for a government lawyer was $50,000 for the year 2007. Although the beginning salaries may be less, the hours worked are also typically less and the benefits are frequently better than in the private sector.

Lawyers that enter the private sector typically go to work for a private law firm or become part of the in-house legal department at a large corporation. The BLS indicates that the beginning salary for a lawyer in the private sector was $108,500 and for the business sector $69,100 as of 2007. A lawyer in either of these positions can expect to work significantly more hours than her government sector counterpart.