2 ms·
They're not. Median lawyer rates are more like $200-300/h, with variations depending on locality--a lawyer in NYC is going to be much more expensive than a law
by jcranmer 2y ago
They're not.
Median lawyer rates are more like $200-300/h, with variations depending on locality--a lawyer in NYC is going to be much more expensive than a lawyer in middle-of-nowhere, Kentucky.
As for why they're expensive, part of the answer is because legal training (i.e., law school) is expensive, and lawyers have to pay their student debt.
- nyssos 2y agoLawyer rates are extremely high variance, and the NYT is not hiring anywhere near the median. White shoe firms break $1000/hr routinely.
- tptacek 2y agoMy understanding of the price/scarcity dynamics here are that people want lawyers with significant experience, there are a relatively small number of openings every year for BigLaw associates that provide access to that kind of experience, and they hire almost exclusively from the T14 schools. If you want a random lawyer, you can get them very cheap. But if you're doing M&A or serious corp litigation, you're looking at a much smaller and more expensive pool of candidates. I was shocked by how much our M&A lawyers cost. All this is to say: the median might not be telling most of the story here.