What is the average pay for a lawyer?

Question

What is the average pay for a lawyer that:

Works in a huge company such as google

Normal lawyer protecting against auto accidents, etc.

Thank you.

Answer 1

There is an incredible range.  I know lawyers in private practice hoping to clear 40K this year and I know some who will make multiple millions this year.  Any average would be meaningless because the curve is so wide.  

Answer 2

A lawyer who is an employee of a company such as Google would be salaried. These days a decent starting salary for a new law school grad in a large corporate setting would be somewhere in the $50k - $75k range. Their corporate counsel is probably making high six figures - probably seven figures if you include things like stock options.

A lawyer defending personal injury suits 'might' be a paid employee of the insurance company, but he'd more likely be a member of a law firm that they hire to fight their cases. Depending on the firm, a new associate might be started at anything from about $35k up. A partners income is literally unlimited, depending only on the profit his firm makes.

By comparison, in criminal law, a brand new prosecutor in my county is hired at $55k a year, and a brand new public defender at $63k a year. These salaries rise to a cap of $133k a year for a deputy DA, and $144k a year for a deputy PD.

Richard