BigLaw Salary Bumps Exacerbate Public-Interest Pay Gap

Big Law firms have been busy bumping up the six-figure starting salaries for newly graduated lawyers. But new data has reemphasized just how out-of-step salaries for local prosecutors and other public-sector attorneys are compared to those who opt for private practice.

The median entry-level salary for public service attorneys is $48,000, or about one-quarter of what major firms pay to those fresh out of law school. Public service salaries have also remained nearly flat over the past 14 years that the survey has been conducted, with only a minor uptick since the survey was last conducted in 2014.

That’s according ...