Attorney Salary and Job Availability in Salt Lake (Washington: real estate, insurance)

[Nevada1]

My wife and I live in Las Vegas and travel to Salt Lake regularly. We really like the city and are considering moving. We love outdoor activities and Salt Lake seems to have a lot to offer. We are both transactional attorneys and work primarily in real estate.

What are the salary ranges for attoneys in Salt Lake and are many in-house jobs available? My wife is a third year and I am a fifth year attorney. I am also an engineer and specialize in water law and some environmental areas, as well as real property development. My wife has litigation and transactional experience.

Please do not direct me to web sites with "average salaries." They do not really reflect the real world.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Nevada1]

Not 1 person out there? Feel free to PM or email me.

[eggalegga]

Sorry. I don't know any attorneys nor do I know how to go about getting the specific info you need. I hope someone can help you soon.

[snowflake73]

Okay. I'm a court reporter that has been here for two years. I'll do some checking around and see what I can find out next week.

[mrm84107]

I agree that "average wage" sites are not real world, but your question isn't either. There is nothing in your post to indicate whether you are average, below average, or above average based on school, class standing, law journal, and size and rating of firm(s) you have worked with since graduation, etc.

I know what I make, and what the attorneys who work for me and my other staffers make, but I haven't a clue what you might be worth in the open market.

As you might suspect, in the private sector this is not widely disclosed information. At five years you should be at or approaching partner in a mid to large firm. If you are already there you should be a more attractive/less risky choice for a similar firm in SLC.

Although based on average, you can get solid data from U of U and BYU sites on the salaries of first year lawyers. You will need to knock off the higest tier since these are graduates joining firms in NY, San Fran, Washington, etc. I used these figures in a case before the Court of Appeals a couple of years ago with no challenges as to accuracy. You can also check back issues of the bar journal that runs periodic surveys, but you need to be careful about inflation.

Whenever I have a legal opening I am surprised to get dozens of applicants, many highly qualified with 5-8 years experience, for ALJ positions that pay far below what I would think they would be interested in or what I can offer in a government setting. This either indicates a disheartening private sector or, when you add in insurance, forty hour weeks, and retirement benefits, a decent package.

The only real way to find out what you are worth is to start applying for some of the in-house positions offered in the paper/bar journal and putting out feelers at the firms you are interested in.

Good luck with your search. As a transplant to the area, I know you are correct in your belief that SLC is a great place to live and work.

[Inferior_Light]

The average salary for a large law firm in SLC is about 100k per year for a first year associate (up from 90k one year ago). As a 5yr associate you could expect to make about 115-120k year plus bonuses if you average over 1800 hours on billing. With 5 years of experience you can almost become a shareholder (as you probably know). On average real estate attorneys that are shareholders can expect a 200k year salary with bonuses in the range of 5-10%.