Lawyers paid $750/hour???

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by kgrad, Dec 21, 2006.

  1. #1
    Hey, I just read that lawyers are paid $750/hour in the US:eek: :eek:
    Is there a more high paying job??
    I did better shift to the US and become a lawyer:rolleyes: :p
     
    kgrad, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  2. hextraordinary

    hextraordinary Well-Known Member

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    #2
    And much MUCH more than that. Some lawyers get % of deals the only thing they do about is co-sign papers. So they make $xx,xxxx for 2-3 hours meeting and a signature.... Other sit in an empty office all day and gather debt.

    It's not in what you do, but in how you do it.
     
    hextraordinary, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  3. T0PS3O

    T0PS3O Feel Good PLC

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    #3
    And what you know and who you know (and who of those you know like you or have an interest in pretending to like you).
     
    T0PS3O, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  4. Pietercornelis

    Pietercornelis Guest

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    #4
    But, let's face it, on average US lawyers don't earn $750...
     
    Pietercornelis, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  5. jaree

    jaree Well-Known Member

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    #5
    I am going to law school :eek: I am sick of "treating" customers in business.


    Seriously i am thinking about it :)
     
    jaree, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  6. northpointaiki

    northpointaiki Guest

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    #6
    Run away. Do not stop. At least not in the U.S.

    Most attorneys I know are loaded with a mountain of debt out of law school, go to work for large, commercial firms to pay the monthly nut on that debt, and are edged into a do-or-die young associateship that makes most I know rue the day they entered law school. 16-20 hour days, incredible pressure to produce or be tossed out with the next review, all for the possible privilege of one day making partner - in order to turn it around and do it to some other equally pitiful set of fools. An endless, vicious cycle of misery in the most litigious land on the planet.

    Not for this one, at any rate.
     
    northpointaiki, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  7. jaree

    jaree Well-Known Member

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    #7
    :D *Runs Away* :D BTW I dont need to borrow money to go to law school :D
     
    jaree, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  8. northpointaiki

    northpointaiki Guest

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    #8
    That makes it easier to swallow, I suppose. Still, if I had it, I could think of better things to do with the $150,000 or more needed for law school, than sink it into a career to act as a running lap dog for you-name-it corporate firm.
     
    northpointaiki, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  9. MattKNC

    MattKNC Peon

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    #9
    We pay athletes much more than that. Think of a baseball pitcher who pitches every 5th day for three hours. Yes, I know: they practice and have to be ready. Yet, some pitchers make several hundred dollars per pitch.
     
    MattKNC, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  10. browntwn

    browntwn Illustrious Member

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    #10
    First, some lawyers may charge $750 an hour, but that is not what they are paid. From that, they have to pay office rent, secretarial staff, all other expenses of running a business. What they get 'paid' will be far less that what they charge.

    Second, Some lawyers charge $750 an hour, some $450, some $300, some just $100. A lot like the services for sale on DP, you pay more for experience, quality, proven reputation, and of course results.

    Lastly, they don't just hand you the money because you are a lawyer, you have work, and work very hard.

    In short, it is like every other profession. People who are at the top of their profession make a lot of money. Plenty of attorneys make nowhere near $750 per hour.
     
    browntwn, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  11. jaree

    jaree Well-Known Member

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    #11
    I know average in us is around $57/hour which is less then a Familly doctor or a dentist.
     
    jaree, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  12. Notting

    Notting Notable Member

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    #12
    Notting, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  13. mightyb

    mightyb Banned

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    #13
    I know a lawyer who gets blank, signed cheques and he fills in his own amount.
     
    mightyb, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  14. Epica

    Epica Well-Known Member

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    #14
    I think Lawyers get paid unusually well because they are generally desperately needed, and they know it. If the person had other options they would exercise them - but often a person consults an attorney because they absolutely need a lawyer to avoid some concequence or to obtain some sort of justice in a flawed system.

    Some specialty skills like a plumber fixing leaky faucets or a mechanic carressing life back into a klunking engine operate under a similar sense of urgency - but a good lawyer is often the difference in getting lethal injection or 25-life, or the difference in keeping or losing your parental rights. Desperation pushes people to let loose of their purses and lay it all on the line - not like you can take your Macy's card into prison with you anyways ;)

    Oh yeah -shamless plug >> Lawyer Jokes :D
     
    Epica, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  15. wordscientist

    wordscientist Peon

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    #15
    It's a nice to think about making that amount of money per hour. Yes, indeed. But before anyone starts cramming for law school, ask yourself if you'd enjoy working as a lawyer. As for myself, the big bucks are not worth the stress.
     
    wordscientist, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  16. northpointaiki

    northpointaiki Guest

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    #16
    Where I worked, paralegals billed at $75/hr, associates $125, partners from $250-$400, senior partners up from there.

    I think the problem all starts with law school tuition fees. Many go into the profession for many reasons, but are forced into one line of work on graduating - the large, corporate firm, doing commercial litigation or transactional work - just to pay for the school cost. It is spiralling ever more out of control, and so the industry is fed by a vicious cycle. More and more young lawyers are entering law school, paying higher and higher fees, working more and more slavishly and burning out ever more faster. Someone is not letting the cat out of the bag - it sucks to be a young lawyer nowadays.

    Few enjoyed themselves. Many left (or were given the boot), within year 1 of their new associateship. Many asked why they (or mom and dad) spent their $150,000 to achieve the piece of paper that made them miserable.
     
    northpointaiki, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  17. jaree

    jaree Well-Known Member

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    #17
    Well after business this is the only topic that interest me. I have no option i mean doing MBA or getting a marketing degree is just simply USELESS and POINTLESS. I tried some college courses but they dont teach shit. I knew more about business then that idiot professor.

    I am not planning to practice law fulltime anyway. Business is what my familly background is and thats what interest me the most as long as it goes fine but it is always helpful if you are Coporate Lawyer yourself. I know this because my uncle is and according to him that helps in his business a lot...
     
    jaree, Dec 21, 2006 IP
  18. northpointaiki

    northpointaiki Guest

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    #18
    I once thought the same thing - getting a law degree as an entree into other fields (in my line, I was interested in international jurisprudence, wanted at one time to work in Brussels, or in maritime law, an "undiscovered country," relatively speaking). Still, seems an expensive ticket into other fields, at least to me.
     
    northpointaiki, Dec 21, 2006 IP