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Average first-year attorney salary is bimodal, not a single figure. A cluster of new attorneys at large firms earns the lockstep Cravath market rate of $235,000, while a much larger group in government, public interest, and small firms earns $95,000 (the NALP Class of 2024 overall median; the mean was $125,926).
By Ali Unar, JD candidate at Georgetown Law and founder of Lovare Institut. Last updated August 2026. Figures on this page were verified in August 2026 or point readers to the current source.
There is no single average first-year attorney salary, because entry pay divides into two clusters. Attorneys who join large firms on the market pay scale start at $235,000. Attorneys who begin in government, public interest, or small firms earn the national entry median of $95,000 (the NALP Class of 2024 overall median; the mean was $125,926). The overall mean falls in a valley that few new attorneys actually occupy.
NALP salary research shows a bimodal curve: most new attorneys earn near the national median, a smaller group earns the big-firm market rate, and very few earn amounts in between. Which group an attorney enters is set at hiring, driven by firm size, practice area, and city, not by later raises. That is why two classmates can start at very different salaries in the same year.
Three factors decide a first-year attorney's pay: employer type (large firm versus small firm, government, or nonprofit), geographic market (high-cost cities pay more), and practice area (corporate and IP pay more than general practice). Law school prestige and class rank matter mainly because they open the door to the large firms that pay the market scale. Verify current figures against see the linked source (see the linked source).
Treat the two peaks as two different career tracks with different entry requirements. If the big-firm number is your goal, prioritize grades, school rank, and the summer-associate recruiting cycle. If public-service work fits you better, plan around loan-forgiveness programs that offset lower pay. Lovare's LSAT and admissions coaching helps you reach the schools and grades that open the higher-paying track.
How much first-year lawyers make depends mainly on employer type. Large-firm associates earn the lockstep market rate of $235,000, while lawyers in government, public interest, and small firms earn the entry median of $95,000 (the NALP Class of 2024 overall median; the mean was $125,926). Geographic market also shifts the figure up or down.
Corporate and M&A work, patent and IP, tax, and securities and finance law are generally the highest-paid legal fields, concentrated in large firms. Specialized patent attorneys with science backgrounds and elite corporate lawyers sit at the top. Exact figures follow roughly $235,000 in market-rate BigLaw regardless of practice area; BLS does not break lawyer pay out by specialty.
The Biglaw salary scale is the lockstep, seniority-based pay grid that leading large firms match in unison. It sets one market base for each class year rather than negotiating individually. The current first-year rung is $235,000, and each subsequent year steps up on a published schedule.
Verified August 2026.
August 21, 2026
August 21, 2026