New research shows that while salaries for public service attorneys have risen modestly since 2004, those lawyers have seen the slowest growth in salary levels during that period.
The research by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) covers public defenders and local prosecuting attorneys as well as attorneys with public interest organizations.
The data show those attorneys have the lowest median entry-level salary and earn the smallest increases in salary based on experience.
The results from NALP/PSJD’s 2018 Public Service Attorney Salary Survey are consistent with findings from earlier surveys, which have been conducted periodically since 2004.
The 2018 report demonstrates that, in general, practice experience brings with it relatively modest salary increases, particularly within civil legal services organizations.
For example, the median entry-level salary for a legal services attorney is $48,000; at 11-15 years of experience the median is $69,500.
Pay for public defenders and local prosecuting attorneys is somewhat higher, starting at about $58,000 and $56,000, respectively, and increasing to about $96,000 and $84,000, respectively, for those with 11-15 years of experience.
The report is based on a nationwide survey conducted by NALP among civil legal services organizations, offices of public defenders, local prosecuting attorneys, and public interest organizations, and provides salary information for both entry-level and experienced attorneys at public interest organizations as of Jan. 1, 2018. A total of 347 organizations participated in the survey. The figures reflect salaries of attorneys whose positions involve primarily law practice and not organizational management.
The report categorizes salary outcomes both geographically and based on the nature of the responding organization.
For example, entry-level salaries at civil legal services organizations are notably higher in the Northeast, with a median of over $58,000. Among local prosecuting attorneys, salary scales are higher in the West.
The report also includes information on the types of benefits responding organizations provide their attorneys.
“It is gratifying to see that salaries for public service attorneys continue to rise,” said NALP’s executive director James Leipold, “but at a time when private sector starting salaries at the largest law firms are on the move as well, the gap between large law firm salaries and public service salaries is highlighted.
“Supporting lawyers who work in the public interest with professional compensation packages that allow them to pay down their student debt, afford housing, and do the good work they do has never been more important.”
The report, taken in tandem with its law firm companion piece — NALP’s 2017 Associate Salary Survey — highlights distinctions between public sector/public interest salaries and law firm salaries.
The median first-year salary at a law firm of 50 or fewer attorneys was about $90,000 in 2017, not quite double the salary for an entry-level attorney at a legal services organization.
The median first-year salary for firms with 51-100 attorneys was $115,000. Moreover, the $180,000 starting salary paid at many large firms in big cities, and the recent move to $190,000 on the part of a number of firms, is beyond what even the most experienced attorneys can reasonably expect at a public interest organization.
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