Law Firm
Salary Calculator
Get an instant, personalized compensation estimate for any attorney or legal staff role — by practice area, firm size, location, and billing structure. Adjust inputs and see your result update in real time.
- Based on US legal compensation benchmarks (NALP, Above the Law, BLS)
- Covers associate, Of Counsel, and partner compensation
- Includes performance bonus, origination, and billing-structure adjustments
- Calculates your effective hourly rate from billable hours targets
1,000+
law firms run on LeanLaw
70%
faster invoice collections
$61K
leaked revenue recovered per attorney each year
20–50×
ROI for a typical 10-attorney firm
What Should Your Attorneys Be Earning?
Select your firm profile below. The salary estimate updates instantly as you change any input — no email required.
Enter Your Firm Details
Your Salary Estimate
Adjust the inputs on the left to see your personalized salary range instantly.
Track & Pay Your Team with LeanLaw
LeanLaw auto-calculates origination credits, rainmaker splits, and attorney compensation reports — straight from your billing data.
Get a Free DemoThe Four Layers of Law Firm Compensation
Attorney pay is never just a salary number. Most private-practice compensation packages have four moving parts — and knowing each one lets you benchmark more accurately and structure competitive offers.
Base Salary
Fixed annual compensation determined by role, experience, firm size, and market. Set at hiring and reviewed annually. This is the floor, not the ceiling.
Performance Bonus
Discretionary bonus tied to billable hours met, realization rate, client satisfaction, and overall firm profitability. Ranges from 3% to 25%+ of base.
Origination Credit
Revenue credit for clients you brought to the firm. At most firms, 15-30% of collected fees from your originations are credited back to your compensation.
Profit Distribution
For equity partners, a share of firm profits after expenses. This is the most variable layer and can dwarf base salary in profitable years.
US Attorney Salary Ranges at a Glance
These are broad national ranges across all markets and firm sizes. Your personalized estimate from the calculator above will be more precise — accounting for your specific market, firm size, and performance tier.
Data sourced from NALP 2023 Associate Salary Survey, BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (May 2023), and Above the Law compensation reporting.
| Role | Median | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Junior Associate (0-2 yrs) | $92,000 | $68K–$130K |
| Mid-Level Associate (3-5 yrs) | $122,000 | $90K–$175K |
| Senior Associate (6-8 yrs) | $158,000 | $115K–$220K |
| Of Counsel / Senior (9-12 yrs) | $182,000 | $130K–$260K |
| Partner (13+ yrs) | $280,000 | $160K–$600K+ |
| Legal Assistant | $52,000 | $38K–$72K |
| Paralegal | $58,000 | $42K–$85K |
| Billing Manager | $68,000 | $50K–$95K |
National medians across all markets and firm sizes. Figures are estimates.
"We finally know which flat fees are making us money and which ones are killing us."
Karyn Anderson
Total Sum Accounting
Stop Calculating Compensation in Spreadsheets.
LeanLaw pulls compensation data directly from your billing activity. Origination credits, revenue per attorney, realization rates, and effective hourly rates are calculated automatically — so every compensation conversation is backed by real numbers, not guesses.
- Origination and referral credit tracking by attorney
- Billed, collected, and adjusted revenue per attorney
- Realization rate and effective hourly rate reports
- Custom compensation formula support (eat-what-you-kill, lockstep, hybrid)
- Live sync to QuickBooks Online — no manual reconciliation
Law Firm Salary FAQs
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How does LeanLaw help law firms manage compensation?
Know What Your Attorneys Earn —
Straight From Your Billing Data.
LeanLaw automatically calculates attorney compensation metrics from real billing and collection data — no spreadsheets, no manual exports. Join 1,000+ law firms that trust LeanLaw to run their financial operations.