Beginning lawyers earn a modest salary, but the potential for higher earnings builds quickly with solid experience. A lawyer just starting out in solo practice may barely make ends meet for the first few years, especially since many law-school graduates have student loan debt. The average law student graduate with education debt had average undergraduate/law school debt of $137,500, according to the 2024 American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Student Loan Survey. In May 2023, the median salary for practicing lawyers was $145,760, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, although some senior partners earned well over $1 million a year. Ten percent of lawyers earned less than $69,760.
Incomes for elder law attorneys vary greatly but generally are less than those of their colleagues working with wealthy clients, such as corporate lawyers representing major companies.
Benefits and bonuses vary widely in this field. Many attorneys are sole practitioners and therefore don't receive company benefits such as paid vacation, health insurance, and retirement plans. Generally, lawyers who are partners in larger firms may enjoy more generous benefits packages and perks than those with a solo practice.
- Adult Day Care Coordinators
- Arbitrators
- Bail Bondsmen
- Bailiffs
- Bankruptcy Lawyers
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- Bodyguards
- Border Patrol Agents
- Bounty Hunters
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- Court Interpreters and Translators
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- Criminal Lawyers
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- Forensic Experts
- Forensic Meteorologists
- Geriatric Care Managers
- Geriatric Nurses
- Geriatric Psychiatrists
- Geriatric Social Workers
- Geriatricians
- Grief Therapists
- Hedge Fund Lawyers
- Home Health Care Aides
- Home Health Care and Hospice Nurses
- Hospice Workers
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- Judges
- Law Librarians
- Lawyers
- Legal Nurse Consultants
- Legal Operations Specialists
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- Litigation Support/eDiscovery Analysts
- Medical Ethicists
- Mergers and Acquisitions Attorneys
- Music Therapists
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- Nursing Home Administrators
- Paralegals
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- Personal Care Aides
- Polygraph Examiners
- Process Servers
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- Recreational Therapists
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