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How much is the pay of an average criminal attorney?

In the Mid-West what is the average pay of a criminal-law attorney?

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Michelle’s Answer

Hello, Wyatt !

In general, people that go into politics or law seem do very well financially, but not all. Keeping in mind that some do well, did they know before they were in law school how much money they'd be making ? No. There's no way to tell.

There are salary ranges on the internet that you can look up but you have to ask yourself, still, what will I make ? There's no way to tell. Being that Law is a career in which you can gear yourself to do well, let's see what that would take. First, it will depend on where in the country you practice as you seem to already realize. Than, you'd have to think about relocating to a different region that pays better if you believe salaries are better somewhere else. It is going to depend upon what company or city or town hires you and what salary they choose to pay a position. Although it's satisfying to look up salary ranges for a career beforehand, you have to ask yourself, how will this help me in 7 or 8 years from now. Going into any career needs to have a deciding factor way more than what salary someone will make.

Your income is going to greatly depend on how many jobs you have simultaneously with different companies, organizations or town or cities. If you are on any Boards or do legal writing. Also if you open your own law firm and mostly, how skilled and successful you are with cases and serving clients. So my advice is that if you have a passion for law, go into it and forget about monetary gain until you pass the Bar Exam and start working. That is when you'll have a large choice of which jobs to accept based on what salary you want. You will meet important contacts in law school and professional contacts that may determine where your opportunities end up being.

If you really want to know exactly what salary the attorneys in your town make, I would advise attempting to call or visit all of the law firms and city, town and county offices where attorneys work and ask them how much they make and how many places they are receiving income from. If you can accomplish that, I'm not even sure that would be helpful because you'd have to do the same phone calls 7 or 8 years from now to get a more accurate idea. The distraction of a projected salary can take away from your career decision or skill development and education. So no one can really tell you how much you will make except that attorneys are high on the list for potentially making a good income.

I hope that this is helpful and something to think about as you are encouraged to pursue a field of work that you feel driven to. Your future salary will reflect whatever you put into your future and you will become more aware of opportunities after law school.

I wish you all the best !

Michelle recommends the following next steps:

WHY SALARY ESTIMATES AREN'T HELPFUL https://lifehacker.com/why-you-shouldn-t-rely-on-glassdoor-s-salary-estimates-1846584230
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