Anyone notice that private sector salaries went down a lot?

[Oilguy3]

Well, I just don't want to be a JD holder making BA money...that's all. I mean, its just a bad investment to spend 100,000 and have no returns, even if it is fun and stimulating. This just makes the JD degree a luxury. All in all, I just want to know if my Higher T3(all my T3s have ratings comparable to T2s) and my lower T2s will do if I graduate from one of them. Will they just hang on the wall or will I actually get the respect that a lawyer is due. What tier do you have to be not be just a paralegal or a clerk the rest of your life? I'm just happy making the average 90,000/yr that is considered the AVERAGE in the profession.

Lawyers are due respect? I thought they were due a law degree...If you just want to be wealthy there are lots of options that require far less education.  Go to law school because you want to be a lawyer.

[Lindbergh]

Who told you $90K was considered "average" for attorneys? 

Many lawyers make significantly less than this, and even if this was determined to be the statistical mean, this includes lawyers who have been working for 40 years.  In other words, most lawyers don't make this much for awhile, if ever.

You should really only go into law if you like the law, IMO.

Well, I just don't want to be a JD holder making BA money...that's all. I mean, its just a bad investment to spend 100,000 and have no returns, even if it is fun and stimulating. This just makes the JD degree a luxury. All in all, I just want to know if my Higher T3(all my T3s have ratings comparable to T2s) and my lower T2s will do if I graduate from one of them. Will they just hang on the wall or will I actually get the respect that a lawyer is due. What tier do you have to be not be just a paralegal or a clerk the rest of your life? I'm just happy making the average 90,000/yr that is considered the AVERAGE in the profession.

[adverb]

Uhhh... no.  Market salary at top firms, even in NY, is still 125K, with the exception of a very select firms.  I don't know where you are getting that number from, but from a person who has actually worked at these firms, I can tell you that 135K is NOT likely.  If you include bonus, MAYBE -- but that wouldn't be salary anyway.

I didn't notice that, but I did notice that UVA's 75th went up to 135K.  That's better than HYS.

[bruin]

A few firms do pay 135-140 in NYC and LA, thought often this is in place of a bonus.

[Thikighoros]

I didn't notice that, but I did notice that UVA's 75th went up to 135K.  That's better than HYS.

 Many of UVA's graduates take their bar exam in New York, and they are looking for employment in New York, in the private sector. That percentage may exceed HYS graduates (a good portion of which go into professorial jobs).

you'd kill yourself if you made $50k?

outside the t14, those 6 figure jobs are hard to come by.  at BU and other top XX schools, you have to be top quarter or top 1/3 to get 6 figs.  or else, you are scrounging for a job, hoping to make $50k or $70k. 

i'm guessing BU's biglaw cut off is top 1/3

Modification: Outside Tier 2 schools, 6 figure jobs are extremely hard to get. Even at that, your starting salary will eventually move up. But it is possible if you're in the top 15 percent, even at a Tier 3 school. 

Also remember that you school's location affects your starting salary. A Tier 3 school in New York for example may bring you  a higher salary than a Tier 2 school in a more remote location.

A $50K to $70K salary is a still a wonderful starting salary in most of the country. When you look at the figures, one has to take into account the costs of living which is the real determinant of affluence. A $50K salary is nothing in New York, because it disappears in the exorbitant amount of taxes, bills, housing costs, etc. But a $50K (or even $40K in some places) salary in a smaller city like Pittsburgh, or Austin would be very nice.

Most people think about starting salary, but they forget costs of living. The comaprisons of starting salaries are just that: comparisons. But remeber, it is the cost of living that would determines your future; it affects how much money available, and also how soon you would be able to pay off your student loans.

just my thoughts...

[shae]

40k in Austin is nothing.  I know everyone thinks Texas has a very low cost of living (and it does in the rural areas), but if you want to live in the city you will be paying quite a bit, and you cannot afford it making 40-50k.

[sck]

Well... I live in Houston on under 40K, and I do OK. I can't afford a lot, but I have a decent apartment, a nice car, and enough disposable income to treat myself to things sometimes. No big screen TVs, but I can buy clothes and eat out frequently, and pay my bills without hurting. Most of my money goes to bills, though. I tend to break even each month. It's a hell of a lot better than when I lived on 25K and couldn't afford to fix my car. Austin is, however, more expensive than Houston.

So you CAN afford it making 40-50K without much trouble if you live modestly, but if you've got big bills and loans to pay back it'll be unpleasant and not doable.

Quite honestly, if I get out of law school and am making 70K to start in Texas, I'll be pretty happy.

[sck]

Or if you want to have a family.  If law school loans are equivalent to one mortgage, then how are you going to pay for a real bricks-and-mortar mortgage, plus day care?

They keep having stories about how women who graduated from prestigious law schools are leaving the workforce to have children, but I don't understand how they're making loan payments.  Maybe they all have trust funds and went to law school to meet a husband?   

I wonder this too, and it's a fear of mine. I mean.... I'm in my 30s. I graduate from law school, maybe I'm married before I go/finish, and we want to have kids. Paying for daycare + loans + mortgage ... ow.

Maybe they went on a full scholarship or married outrageously rich men, but who knows. My most likely marriage candidate right now is a teacher, so there would certainly be no spare money there...!

[RocketBot]

I didn't notice that, but I did notice that UVA's 75th went up to 135K.  That's better than HYS.

hmm USNWR online says for UVA: Private sector (25th-75th percentile): $100,000 - $127,000

Michigan is 105 - 125, Columbia/NYU/Harvard are all 125 - 125.

[pgcc]

If BU's median is 125,00 that mean as long as you keep your head out of your butt for 3 years get good grades interview well you should make over 100,000 to start. It is the people in the bottom 25% of the class that are making 50,000. Personally I do not plan on being towards the bottom of the class after making such a financial commitment.