The average salary for a first-year lawyer depends almost entirely on employer type. The highest tier, large-firm associates on the standard market scale, earns $235,000. Most new lawyers, working in government, public interest, or small practices, earn the national median of $95,000 (the NALP Class of 2024 overall median; the mean was $125,926).
By Ali Unar, Founder, Lovare Institut; JD/MSFS Candidate, Georgetown University. Last updated August 2026. Figures on this page were verified in August 2026 or point readers to the current source.
The average salary for a first-year lawyer depends almost entirely on employer type, so it splits into two figures. The top figure, earned by large-firm associates on the market scale, is $235,000. The typical figure, earned by most new lawyers in government and smaller firms, is the entry median of $95,000 (the NALP Class of 2024 overall median; the mean was $125,926).
First-year salaries range from modest public-interest and small-firm pay at the low end to the big-firm market rate at the high end, with the national median sitting closer to the low peak. Because the distribution is bimodal, most new lawyers cluster near one of two points rather than spreading evenly across the range. The full current spread is documented by
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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.
The best-paying practice areas are big-firm corporate and M&A, patent and other intellectual property, tax, and finance and securities law. These fields pay most at large firms that follow the market scale. Pay for each specialty currently runs roughly $235,000 in market-rate BigLaw regardless of practice area; BLS does not break lawyer pay out by specialty.
The Biglaw scale (the market or Cravath scale) is a standardized base-salary ladder that top firms adopt together, paying every associate in a class year the same base. The current entry rung is $235,000, rising annually, with separate year-end bonuses set by market leaders.
Verified August 2026.
September 20, 2026
September 20, 2026