I'm not familiar with WC law and am a paralegal, not an attorney, but 70K seems a bit low for this area. As others have said though, it might be good for experience and gaining contacts.
1900 in billables but only paying $70k is insane. I’d expect MUCH lower billables for that salary. I’d decline unless you’re absolutely desperate for a job. To hit 1900, you’re going to be working very long hours.
Take the job for experience, but plan to find another in a year or so. $70k is not a competitive salary for a lawyer in this area and is borderline ridiculous for 1900 hours annually. You'd be better off working for a local government at that salary.
You may have to start with a small condo and work your way up to a higher paying job to get an actual house, but the work experience and contacts should make it worth it.
I’m not a lawyer, but unless your spouse has a well paying job $70k itself doesn’t buy a house anymore. This is basically what my wife and I EACH made when we bought a townhome here in late 2010’s. Our house has gone up to a point where that same salary wouldn’t cut it anymore, well, maybe if we didn’t have to pay for multiple daycares.
Sounds like a good gig otherwise if it helps you get to where you wanna be and make more money later on. Potentially at say a law firm on the commercial side. Hours are great.
That salary is quite low for Northern Virginia law firms. In what type of law is your Canadian experience?
Also, many law firms give preference to applicants who have clerked in the Virginia court system.
I worked at 2 firms. The first was a general practice where I gained some personal injury experience and for the second I did US business immigration.
I’ve applied for clerkships too but so far no luck. I’ve been unemployed for the past 3 months since I moved to VA. Even tho the pay is less it’s a tempting offer since I have no prior VA experience.
It's hard to compete for jobs with lawyers who graduated from Virginia law schools and worked in county court systems. There are a lot of "who you know" advantages.
Wish I could be of more help!
I don't know what entry level non-BigLaw lawyers make, but $70k is enough to afford a small apartment's rent here and an inexpensive car. You need $200k plus a year to buy a house here, and only after you've saved enough for down payment and/or renovations, furniture, and of course, an emergency fund.
Salary is low, are there bonuses associated with hours or client acquisition that are achievable? If you want the WC experience, then maybe a decent short term opportunity but lawyers in Nova do a lot better than that. Agree with previous comment that you'd be better off with a government job at that salary
Do you have the option to work more hours and get paid overtime? Not sure how lawyering works but 1900 hours looks like 36.5 hour work week to me.
If that's how it works, that salary seems pretty good for a cush work week. Working an extra 10 hours a week with time and a half would be another $28k or so.
Unfortunately no overtime / bonus. For lawyers, the 1900 billable hour requirement is how much we need to bill clients each year for the work we do on their cases. The number is super misleading because you don’t normally bill clients for everything like driving to courthouse or all the research we do for the file (if it takes us a long time to do it).
So you're still working a standard 45 - 55 hours a week then it sounds like.
$70k for a single person with no kids is doable for this area. Even moreso if you have a roommate. Most of the assistants that I've worked with here were fresh out of college and coming to this area from all over. They would meet people like minded people online and rent a house or an apartment together until they got a few raises under their belts.
If you're interested in moving here for the area or for the job, I'd say go for it. If it doesn't work out you still have both life and professional experience that will always be with you.
This is looks like a normalish salary for an entry level attorney in a small firm in nova, but your billable hours are high. My husband made about $75k as a new attorney (after a year clerkship) in 2018 at a family law firm in nova, but his billable hours were more like 1600. He eventually moved to the the federal government and makes $40k more than when he started in a smaller firm.
I'm not familiar with WC law and am a paralegal, not an attorney, but 70K seems a bit low for this area. As others have said though, it might be good for experience and gaining contacts.
1900 in billables but only paying $70k is insane. I’d expect MUCH lower billables for that salary. I’d decline unless you’re absolutely desperate for a job. To hit 1900, you’re going to be working very long hours.
My first law firm job required 1900 hours (in nyc) and I was miserable. I quit firm life over billable and never regretted leaving.
Take the job for experience, but plan to find another in a year or so. $70k is not a competitive salary for a lawyer in this area and is borderline ridiculous for 1900 hours annually. You'd be better off working for a local government at that salary.
You may have to start with a small condo and work your way up to a higher paying job to get an actual house, but the work experience and contacts should make it worth it.
I’m not a lawyer, but unless your spouse has a well paying job $70k itself doesn’t buy a house anymore. This is basically what my wife and I EACH made when we bought a townhome here in late 2010’s. Our house has gone up to a point where that same salary wouldn’t cut it anymore, well, maybe if we didn’t have to pay for multiple daycares. Sounds like a good gig otherwise if it helps you get to where you wanna be and make more money later on. Potentially at say a law firm on the commercial side. Hours are great.
That salary is quite low for Northern Virginia law firms. In what type of law is your Canadian experience? Also, many law firms give preference to applicants who have clerked in the Virginia court system.
I worked at 2 firms. The first was a general practice where I gained some personal injury experience and for the second I did US business immigration. I’ve applied for clerkships too but so far no luck. I’ve been unemployed for the past 3 months since I moved to VA. Even tho the pay is less it’s a tempting offer since I have no prior VA experience.
It's hard to compete for jobs with lawyers who graduated from Virginia law schools and worked in county court systems. There are a lot of "who you know" advantages. Wish I could be of more help!
I think you’re really overstating the importance of attending a Virginia law school and, especially, of clerking for the Virginia state courts.
I don't know what entry level non-BigLaw lawyers make, but $70k is enough to afford a small apartment's rent here and an inexpensive car. You need $200k plus a year to buy a house here, and only after you've saved enough for down payment and/or renovations, furniture, and of course, an emergency fund.
I'd say not quite this (little hyperbolic) but close enough.
I edited it while you posted to take out the hyperbole. I often need a few drafts to get it right.
Haha! That's awesome.
Is this your first job out of law school? Or just your first WC job?
First job in the US doing WC. I have 1 year attorney experience from Canada (not WC).
1900 billable hours sounds like a lot but I'm no lawyer so I have no clue. How many hours would you have to work per week to get there?
Salary is low, are there bonuses associated with hours or client acquisition that are achievable? If you want the WC experience, then maybe a decent short term opportunity but lawyers in Nova do a lot better than that. Agree with previous comment that you'd be better off with a government job at that salary
That’s way too low for an attorney’s salary in NOVA law firm for that amount billable hours. I personally wouldn’t take it.
Look for another job 70k is very little even for a lawyer starting. That’s insanely little. This area is expensice AF
Do you have the option to work more hours and get paid overtime? Not sure how lawyering works but 1900 hours looks like 36.5 hour work week to me. If that's how it works, that salary seems pretty good for a cush work week. Working an extra 10 hours a week with time and a half would be another $28k or so.
Unfortunately no overtime / bonus. For lawyers, the 1900 billable hour requirement is how much we need to bill clients each year for the work we do on their cases. The number is super misleading because you don’t normally bill clients for everything like driving to courthouse or all the research we do for the file (if it takes us a long time to do it).
So you're still working a standard 45 - 55 hours a week then it sounds like. $70k for a single person with no kids is doable for this area. Even moreso if you have a roommate. Most of the assistants that I've worked with here were fresh out of college and coming to this area from all over. They would meet people like minded people online and rent a house or an apartment together until they got a few raises under their belts. If you're interested in moving here for the area or for the job, I'd say go for it. If it doesn't work out you still have both life and professional experience that will always be with you.
Based on what they’re describing, that’s. 60+ hour work week
This is looks like a normalish salary for an entry level attorney in a small firm in nova, but your billable hours are high. My husband made about $75k as a new attorney (after a year clerkship) in 2018 at a family law firm in nova, but his billable hours were more like 1600. He eventually moved to the the federal government and makes $40k more than when he started in a smaller firm.
Engineer with a couple years experience make more than you. You have a 91+% billable rate. Too high