A career as a lawyer is known to be prestigious, as well as very high paying. This article provides some information on how much a lawyer makes in a year.
Being a successful lawyer has always been a dream of several young college students. However, only those who are genuinely interested in this field can survive here for a long time. The competition here is very tough you will need a bachelor’s or preferably a master’s degree in law from a reputed college to make a place for yourself. Lawyers are of different kinds – tax lawyers, business lawyers, criminal defense lawyers, immigration lawyers, etc. All these professionals are known to earn well if they have sufficient years of experience.
Income of a Lawyer
As per the various salary surveys, the median salary of lawyers is around USD 92,000. However, the salaries for the beginners having less experience were found to be in the range of USD 30,000 to USD 42,000. On the contrary, highly experienced and successful lawyers who have spent ten to fifteen years in the legal field can easily earn around USD 150,000. The salary of those with three to five years of experience can be anything in between USD 40,000 to USD 60,000 a year.
The main aspect of the job of tax attorneys is related to the important tax laws and the Internal Revenue Service. The tax attorneys have a profound knowledge of the rules and regulations of income tax, gift tax, property tax, excise duty, and international taxes and they provide proper service to their clients by explaining these concepts to them in an easily understandable manner. These types of lawyers cater to individual tax payers as well as the corporate clients. In the case of corporate clients, the income generated by the tax attorneys is much more than that compared to the individual clients. The lawyers who have their own law firm are known to earn more than those who work in private or government organizations. A good tax lawyer is aware of the changes made in the system and helps the common people understand the laws which might be difficult to grasp from the law books. Now, let us discuss the income of the tax lawyers. While the salaries in the rural areas are believed to be in the range of USD 35,000 to USD 50,000, those working in the urban areas can draw around USD 60,000 on an average. On the upside, the salaries can go as high as USD 100,000 with sufficient years of working experience. The tax lawyers or attorneys are believed to earn a decent salary, especially in the metropolitan cities.
The business lawyers too are very much in demand, as their work is associated with giving legal guidance or assistance to the corporate and business powerhouses. Business lawyers either work as permanent employees or on a contract basis for reputed multinational companies. The median salary of business lawyers can be in excess of USD 100,000, with around ten years of experience. However, in some exceptional cases, the salary can be more than USD 175,000.
A criminal defense lawyer, whose job is to defend the people accused of different kinds of criminal offenses can expect to earn anything in between USD 55,000 to USD 75,000 after a few years of quality experience. The highly experienced criminal defense lawyers are known to earn handsome salaries in excess of USD 170,000 per year.
Though this article has answered your question, you will have to work hard to achieve these salaries. Lawyers who give special attention on increasing their legal knowledge with every case have a bright future in this field.