AUGUST 2006

YOUNG LAWYERS

2006 YOUNG LAWYERS COMPENSATION SURVEY

BY SHAWN PEARSON, WOODBURN & WEDGE

LINK TO COMPLETE RESULTS OF SURVEY

Every two years, the Young Lawyers Section conducts a survey on salary compensation within the state of Nevada. The results allow attorneys to evaluate salary and working conditions in the job market and allow employers to make fair and informed offers to potential employees.

Participants:

In the spring of 2004, 1,951 Nevada-licensed attorneys meeting the eligibility requirements for the Young Lawyers Section of the State Bar of Nevada were e-mailed a link to an electronic compensation survey.  By definition, a Young Lawyer is someone who is 36 years old or younger or who has been practicing law in the state of Nevada for less than five years (note that Nevada’s definition varies from the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division, which applies the five-year criteria to an attorney’s first bar).  The survey was conducted entirely online, and 373 young lawyers responded for a response rate of 19 percent.

In the spring of 2006, 1,257 Nevada-licensed attorneys meeting the eligibility requirements for the Young Lawyers Section of the State Bar of Nevada were e-mailed a link to an electronic compensation survey.  Of the 1,257 young lawyers identified, 359 completed the survey for a response rate of 28 percent, an increase of nearly 10 percent over 2004.   Male respondents outnumbered female respondents by nearly 2 to 1 (males: n=213, 61.2%; females: n=135, 38.8%).  Likewise, married responders (n=225, 64.3%), and those self-identifying as “in a committed relationship/civil union” (5.4%, n=19), outnumbered single (n=90, 25.7%) and divorced responders (n=15, 4.3%) by more than 2 to 1.   Notably, 11 of the 12 responders reporting an income in excess of $200,000 were married and the twelfth reported being in a committed relationship or civil union.

The majority of the respondents self-identified as Caucasian (n = 292, 83.9%), a three-percent decrease from 2004, with remaining participants indicating they were of Hispanic/Latino (n = 14, 4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (n = 11, 3.2%), multiracial (n = 6, 1.7%), or African-American (n = 5, 1.4%) descent. Twenty individuals (5.7%) did not respond to this question (more than twice the number of non-responders than in 2004). The age of the respondents ranged from 24 to 61.

Young lawyers licensed in Nevada were surveyed regardless of whether or not they actually reside in the state. Of the submitted responses, over half of the attorneys practiced in Las Vegas (n =233, 67.5%). Attorneys working in Reno (n = 58, 16.8%), Carson City (n = 14, 4.1%), and rural Nevada (n = 4, 1.2%) rounded out the in-Nevada component of the respondents.  California practitioners (n=15, 4.3%) and out-of-state attorneys, other than California  (n=21, 6.1%) comprised the remainder of the sample. The law schools attended varied greatly.  The Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada Las Vegas continued to make up a very strong segment of the respondents (n=63, 18.2%).

The most common areas of practice cited were litigation (36.2%), real estate (9.8%), insurance (8.3%), and criminal (7.5%). In terms of practice settings, 270 participants (79%) worked in private law firms (ranging from one to 30-plus attorneys). Fifty-one attorneys (14.9%) worked for the government/state, and 21 (6.1%) worked in corporations.

Base Salary for 2005-2006:

For all responders (n = 347) to the 2006 survey, the mode (the most frequent response) (n = 39) revealed salaries in the $80,000 to $85,000 range.  The range of responses ran from a low of $5,000 to $10,000 to over $200,000.  The results were similar for males (n = 211).  The mode was $80,000 to $85,000 (n = 31) and the range ran from $5,000 to $10,000 (n = 1) to over $200,000 (n = 10).  For females (n = 134) only, the range of responses ran from a low of $25,000 to $30,000 (n = 1) to a high of over $200,000 (n = 2), and the mode was $70,000 to $75,000 (n = 16).

Las Vegas responses (n = 230) ranged from a low of $10,000 to $15,000 (n = 1) to a high of more than $200,000 (n = 8), with a mode of $80,000 to $85,000 (n = 26).  Reno responses (n = 58) ranged from a low of $5,000 to $10,000 (n = 1) to a high of $145,000 to $150,000 (n = 1), and a mode of $70,000 to $75,000 (n = 9).  The 14 survey responders from Carson City reported salaries ranging from a low of $40,000 to $45,000 (n = 1) to a high of $90,000 to $95,000 (n = 1) with a mode of $65,000 to $70,000 (n = 6).  Results from rural Nevada are sparse.  Only four responders identified themselves as practicing in rural parts of the state.  Two responders reported $50,000 to $55,000 incomes, one at the $80,000 to $85,000 range, and the high responder reported a $115,000 to $120,000 income.  Fifteen California practitioners took the survey, and salaries ranged from $55,000 to $60,000 (n = 1) up to over $200,000 (n = 1), with the bulk of the responses (n = 9) ranging from $70,000 to $110,000.  For the 21 young lawyers practicing outside of Nevada and California, salaries ranged from a low of $50,000 to $55,000 (n=1), to a high of more than $200,000 (n = 3) and the distribution was tri-modal, with three responses each in the $80,000 to $85,000, $100,000 to $105,000, and more than $200,000 ranges, respectively.

Responses broken down by demographic data (years in practice in Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City; ethnicity; and marital status) are available on the State Bar’s website, www.nvbar.org.

Billable Hours:

A billable hours requirement impacted 288 of the participants in this sample (80%).

Bonuses:

Respondents were also asked if they received a salary bonus. Over half of the sample (n = 190, 53%) answered the question affirmatively. One hundred ninety participants reported the amount of their bonus received: 93 respondents (48.3%) reported a bonus of 5,000 dollars or less, 38 respondents (20%) reported a bonus in the $5,001 to $10,000 range, twenty-four respondents (12.6%) reported a bonus in the $10,001 to $15,000 range,  eight respondents (4.2%) reported receiving bonuses in the $15,001 to $20,000 range, and ten respondents (5.3%) reported bonuses of 20,001 to $25,000.   Seventeen respondents reported bonuses in excess of $25,000 and six of those reported bonuses in excess of $50,000. 

Benefits:

Results revealed that employers offered a range of benefits to their employees. Health insurance was available to 96.4 percent of the sample (n = 326), up from 87 percent in 2004. Employees were also offered dental insurance (n = 259, 76.6%), life insurance (n = 199, 58.9%), vision insurance (n =191, 56.5%), dependent health insurance (n = 115, 34%), and disability insurance (n = 157, 46.4%). The majority of employers also covered professional membership dues (n = 299, 88.5%) and payment of continuing legal education fees (n = 307, 90.8%). Over two-thirds of the sample (n = 266, 78.7%) indicated that professional liability insurance was an additional benefit that they received.

Involvement in Pro Bono and State Bar Activities

Neither State Bar activities nor Young Lawyers Section activities garnered participation from a majority of respondents.  When asked whether they participated in State Bar activities, the responses were divided nearly evenly: 48.3 percent (n = 166) responding in the affirmative, and 51.7 percent (n = 178) responding in the negative.  Participation in Young Lawyers Section activities was more discouraging.  More than three-quarters of the sample (82.6%; n = 285) stated that they did not participate in Young Lawyers Section activities.

What Do Young Lawyers Like About Their Employment?:

In addition to the quantitative data recited above, this year’s survey contained open-ended questions which asked respondents to identify what they liked most and least about their current positions.  In the “like most” column, words like “people,” “experience,” “the chance to learn,” “freedom” and “flexibility” appear frequently.  A few responses were worthy of note: “It is the best job a lawyer can have--criminal prosecution;” and on the other hand, “I love almost everything about my job at the Clark County Public Defender's Office. The work environment is the absolute best;” and from an attorney in private practice, “Firm culture is great. Life outside of work is encouraged, and the firm takes a direct interest in retaining associates to eventually make them partners.”  One person cited “Travel ... I've worked in Turkey, Hawaii, Vegas, Iraq and currently, Japan. In a few months I'll be moving to Montreal, Canada to pursue an LLM. at McGill University--paid for by the United States Air Force.”