Lawyers: Now, About the Fee . . .

Anyone who has paid a lawyer’s bill latelymay be forgiven if he thinks that lawyers make a great deal of money.But according to a survey conducted for the Philadelphia BarAssociation, most members of the legal profession would probablydisagree. About 60% of all practicing lawyers in the U.S. operate ontheir own in one-man offices, and in this go-it-alone group the averageincome comes to only about $8,000 a year. Dentists without partnersaverage $12,000, and medical doctors more than $18,000.

The way to prosper at law, it appears, is to belong to a firm, thebigger the better. In Philadelphia, the median income of lawyers whowork by themselves is $11,000 a year. In partnerships of two or threelawyers, the median rises to $15,000. With four or five in the firm,the figure is $17,000. In firms where the roster of partners runs totwelve or more lawyers, median income reaches upward to a level thatmany a successful doctor might find impressive—$28,500 a year.