The results of THE NATIONAL LAW FIRM JOURNAL 2012 survey confirm that you don't go into law for money. Here you can review the highlights, displayed on a regional basis.
We know that those working in finance often have base compensation in the double digit millions. On top of that is a bonus which can be twice or three times the base.
Now we know that those equity partners in the survey who made the most, that was in the Middle Atlantic region, averaged $855,392 in 2011. The equity partners in the New England region didn't fare as well. In fact, their compensation was the lowest in the region. On the average they earned $358,476.
Just consider the hoops they went through to be able to earn so much less than players in finance. Those include:
- Getting into a good college
- Getting into a good law school
- Getting into a brandname law firm
- Getting to be a plain-vanilla partner in a brandname law firm
- Getting to be an equity partner in a brandname law firm
- Getting to be a rainmaker in a brandname law firm since not developing new business will result in early retirement.
An ambitious cagey Millennial with an undergraduate degree from nowhere could get into finance, make a bundle, and then, to pursue the intellectual stimulation of practicing law, get into law school, an institution now begging applicants with decent grades and high LSATs to enrol.
After I made a bundle ghostwriting for the Fortune 100, I could pursue academic excellence at Harvard Law School. During the 1L, I got it that it was way too much work for too little payoff. That was the end of my flirtation with the life of the mind.
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