Law Schools

Which recent law grads earn the most?

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Recent graduates of Columbia Law School make the most money, according to a website that allows users to compare their salaries with workers in the same jobs.

Columbia law grads working in the private sector earn median early-career pay of about $165,000 and median mid-career pay of $187,000, according to Payscale.com. Forbes has the story.

Payscale.com looked at the median salaries for law school graduates of 98 law schools, according to Forbes, which had sought the analysis. About 31,000 graduates of the schools had provided salary information to Payscale.com, and 9,100 were law grads working in the private sector with less than five years of experience. (Previous coverage of Payscale.com’s findings has pointed out the sample size for recent grads is relatively small on a per-school basis.)

The top five for median private sector salaries paid to early-career and mid-career grads are:

1) Columbia: $165,000 and $187,000

2) Stanford: $147,000 and $202,000

3) University of Chicago: $132,000 and $204,000

4) Harvard: $130,000 and $221,000

5) University of Virginia; $109,000 and $192,000

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “Think $160K Is the Standard BigLaw Salary? Think Again, NALP Says”

ABAJournal.com: “US News rankings change with better jobs data; which law schools are now unranked?”

ABAJournal.com: “Which school topped list of go-to law schools for BigLaw hiring?”

ABAJournal.com: “Columbia Law School Ranked Best for Career Prospects”

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