No matter your specialty – courtroom litigation or administrative support – everyone has a place in the legal field. Yet some attorneys seem more adept than others at making money from it.
Who holds the highest salary among lawyers? In this article, we’ll investigate which lawyers receive the highest paychecks.
Lawyers in Washington D.C. and New York City
Aspiring professionals will find plenty of high-paying work in the legal profession. Cardiologists, anesthesiologists and marketing managers are among the highest earners within medical fields while finance managers, oil engineers and lawyers excel in business and energy sectors.
Employment lawyers often earn over $87,000 annually. Their clients range from employers, employees, and government agencies.
Entertainment and sports lawyers represent celebrities, athletes, and major industry figures in contract negotiations and disputes. A well-known example is Jerry Reinsdorf of Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls fame, who began his legal career as an attorney but now boasts an estimated net worth of over $1.8 billion.
Lawyers in High-End Practice Areas
Certain legal practice areas tend to offer higher salaries due to the specialization and risk involved, such as medical malpractice or intellectual property litigation.
Entertainment and sports lawyers provide contracts and disputes services for celebrities and athletes. Attorneys like Jeffrey Kessler specialize in sports law and handle high-profile cases such as the recent one for Michael Vick – earning him over $1 Million!
Real estate attorneys typically earn an average annual salary of about $67,000 representing property buyers, sellers, and renters. Their work covers an array of issues such as zoning regulations and financing.
Start off strong in your first-year law school classes and consider law school tutoring to boost your grades, then network and explore high-end practice areas focusing on client satisfaction – this will enable you to land jobs at top firms with generous salaries; then work hard at building experience and establishing yourself, so it will become easier to negotiate high fees for services provided.
Lawyers in Large Cities
No matter if your goal is working with the government or big law firms, where and how you practice can have an enormous impact on your salary. Salary levels in major cities tend to be significantly higher than in smaller ones – indeed some large law firm lawyers may even make over $200,000.
The ideal city for lawyers depends on your goals and lifestyle. Some individuals seek partners or their own solo practices while others wish to specialize in in-demand areas like patent litigation or insurance litigation.
Location-wise, the best places for lawyers include Washington D.C. and New York City; Boston is another top location with major law firms and financial centers as well as many start-up and established corporations in need of corporate lawyers. Meanwhile, Lima in Peru stands out as having lower average salaries and less job openings expected over time than other top destinations for lawyers.
Lawyers with a Specialty
Lawyers who specialize in one practice area tend to command higher salaries due to the specialized nature of such practices requiring deeper understanding of legal principles, regulations, laws and precedents.
An attorney with specialized services also benefits from being exposed to clients with significant assets that warrant such services, such as securities lawyers specializing in complex financial regulations or attorneys who handle high-profile cases such as white-collar defense or antitrust litigation.
Employment law, tax law and intellectual property law are other fields with high salaries. Employment lawyers provide legal support in matters concerning employee relations between employers and employees ranging from termination, wage disputes and compliance issues to wrongful dismissals and wage discrepancies. Tax attorneys as well as intellectual property law specialists help individuals and companies with patent, trademark and copyright applications as well as lawsuits filed by these industries; pharmaceuticals, entertainment, technology are in high demand.
