New Lawyers' Salaries Plummet

I can hear the cheering in some quarters, and hardcore lawyer haters would say everyone is cheering.

But shed a tear or two for graduates of law schools in 2010. New lawyers in private practice had salaries plummet 20 per cent. The decline reflected that larger firms did not hire many new lawyers in 2010. The jobs in private practice were increasingly in smaller firms with lower starting salaries.

Starting salaries in private practice were on average $63,000.

Private practice salary declines were steepest, with the median salary for all new attorneys--private, government, public interest--declining 13 percent.

In another sign of distress in the law market, 20 percent of graduates with jobs (the lucky ones)had temporary positions.

Come on. Shed a tear for your fellow human beings.