fbpx

New Students: Free 1 credit CLE course with code FREECLE

How Much Do Lawyers Earn? Average Salaries by Legal Practice Area

Becoming a lawyer is hard work and often results in quite a bit of debt. Everyone has a different reason for pursuing a career in law, but when it comes to money, not all practice areas are created equally. Here is a list of the average base salary of the most common practice areas in the legal profession. Remember, this is an average and does not include additional forms of compensation or other perks.

Understanding Earnings Across Various Legal Specialties

Salary, does not include other benefits:

  • Corporate – $176,178
  • Inhouse – $164,186
  • Government – $157,389
  • Prosecutor – $155,735
  • Contract – $151,667
  • Intellectual Property – $148,803
  • Tax – $141,770
  • Judge – $141,447
  • Civil Rights – $125,124
  • Litigation – $123,976
  • Family – $122,102
  • Bankruptcy – $122,003
  • Environmental – $118,889
  • Public Interest – $118,683
  • Worker’s Compensation – $108,240
  • Real Estate – $98,111
  • Criminal Defense – $97,424
  • Insurance Defense – $97,424
  • Personal Injury – $96,797
  • Estate Planning – $90,864
  • Immigration – $76,926
  • Public Defender – $60,742


The information was derived from comprehensive research of available sources on the internet.

Looking for a new CLE experience?

We’ll let you know when we release new courses and products.

Continuing Education for the Next Generation™

More Pages