Anyone who wants to earn a lot of money in life often chooses a career in the line of business or the justice system. However, law is needed everywhere and even big companies need permanent lawyers to help them draw contracts and to ensure the legitimacy of their business deals. Therefore, corporate lawyers is another field which is most sought after by a number of people who have claimed their degree in the corporate law. Corporate lawyers often handle cases, which involves their respective business and industry they are working in. Salary of a corporate lawyer is thought to be very high as per a normal human being who has no idea about the corporate law sector, but in fact, the average salary varies depending upon the length of employment of the corporate lawyer with the company. The education level of the corporate lawyer, type of employer whom the corporate lawyer is working for and the area of specialty of the corporate lawyer are also the factors that play a part in deciding the corporate lawyer salary.
The corporate lawyer salary depends on a number of factors to decide. Therefore, following are some factors discussed that play a role in determining the corporate lawyer salary.
Average Corporate Lawyer Salary
According to the 2009 BLS , the average mean wage for business lawyers is $158,290 per year, but these corporate lawyers are those that are generally classified in the industry of “Management of Companies and Enterprises,”. Although, it is higher than the average salary for most of the corporate lawyers that is usually around $129,020. If compared, it is also higher as compared to the mean annual wage for the most populated industry, Legal Services that is almost $136,170.
Corporate Lawyer Salary With Location
The corporate lawyer salary of a corporate lawyer also depends on where the corporate lawyer is living, i.e. the city, country. Demand for corporate lawyers and the cost of living both plays an important role in deciding the corporate lawyer salary along with the type of employer as well. Corporate lawyer salary in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California area, has the highest annual mean salary among all the lawyers that is $192,020 per year. Washington D.C. on the other hand is both the state with the highest concentration of lawyers and as well as the highest average salary, that is at $156,750 per year for corporate lawyers. Delaware and New York come after all of these cities with annual corporate lawyer salary that is $152,300 and $152,710 respectively.
Least Experienced
As in any other field, the field of corporate lawyers also enjoy higher incentives and salaries as they excel in their line of career. Therefore, the corporate lawyers who have at least one to four years of experience in their respective fields earn an annual income of $65,872 to $122,121. Moreover, the average corporate lawyer salary for corporate lawyers with five to nine years of experience is $94,573 to $147,977.
Most Experienced
The annual income of a corporate lawyer who has at least 10 to 19 years of experience in their field is $99,842 to $170,733.
Employer Type
The highest paying employers for corporate lawyers were and still are the private legal practices where corporate lawyer salary is maximum of $158,271, whereas hospitals on the other hand are one of the lowest paying employers for corporate lawyers that pay an annual salary totalling to $147,518 per year.
Specialties of Law
Real estate corporate lawyers are the highest paying specialty for corporate lawyers. Real estate corporate lawyers are averaged to receive the maximum annual salary of $170,068. However, the lowest paying specialty for corporate lawyers is appeals and litigation who receive a maximum salary $146,838 per year on average.
Education Level
Corporate lawyer salary that have a juris doctor degrees earn the highest average salary that ranges from $154,373 to $171,871. Corporate lawyer salary who have bachelor’s degree in law earn the lowest annual salaries that is $102,789 per year on average.
Benefits
Many corporate lawyer receive additional benefits with their jobs that are often increased as well with their overall compensation packages every year. Corporate lawyers get at least 1.9 to 3.5 weeks of paid vacation per year along with an average annual bonus that ranges from $8,139 to $25,758.
All of these statistics were taken in July 2009, so there will be a little change in them by the time you read this article. Therefore, make sure to check the rate of inflation of cost of living before you try to use these statistics for some other purpose.