Studies highlight pay gap

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Attorney Molly E. Klinge has more than $100,000 in law school debt.

But rather than pursue a potentially lucrative career with a large private law firm, the 2008 Marquette Law School graduate applied for a job with the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s office.

So why would Klinge, who graduated near the top of her class, decide to take a $48,000-a-year position, when she could have earned upwards of six figures working with one of the state’s larger law firms?

“The easiest way to put it is I’m used to being a poor college student, so it’s more important for me to do something I like, rather than make a ton of money,” said Klinge, who started with the SPD office in Sparta two months ago.

While Klinge cites her willingness to trade the comfort of a new couch for the comfort of a job, she is one of only a small percentage of law graduates who venture into the public sector right out of school and attorneys from several of those organizations note the financial challenges in attracting and retaining legal talent.

Pay Disparity

A new national survey of more than 650 civil legal services organizations by the National Association for Legal Professionals (NALP) revealed that attorneys who start and stay with those agencies likely won’t ever reach the pay level of a first-year associate at a big city law firm.

Based on the survey, 12 Midwestern states, including Wisconsin, collectively lag behind the national averages for salaries offered at organizations like the State Public Defender, local district attorney offices and civil legal service providers.

Within the state, the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee starts staff attorneys at $41,000 annually, which is slightly ahead of the national average of $40,000, but well behind the approximately $47,000 that unionized state agencies offer.

Executive Director Thomas R. Cannon acknowledged the difficulties of persuading new attorneys to join the cause, when they could not only get more money with a private firm, but other public service organizations as well.

“We lag behind both the DA’s office and public defender and it’s something we’d like to see balanced out, but given the budget realities of a legal aid program, it is unfortunately not always possible to do,” said Cannon.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John T. Chisholm said that while his office may offer a better starting wage, he tells new hires not to expect raises commensurate with experience.

The study showed that after 15 years, salaries for local prosecutors in the Midwest average about $75,000, approximately three-fourths of the top pay grade for district attorneys in Wisconsin.

According to a companion survey on associate salaries published by NALP in April, fourth-year associates at firms with 51 to 100 attorneys have median salaries of $104,000, which is the top tier for district attorneys and public defenders in Wisconsin.

“I know how it works,” said Chisholm. “I was making $60,000 after having been here 12 years. I’m not complaining because I would do this kind of work for free, but my wife might have something to say about that.”

In fact, Chisholm said he rarely loses prosecutors to private practice, because they enjoy the work so much. Rather, those attorneys with five to 20 years of experience often seek more profitable jobs as federal prosecutors or with other government agencies.

In the last four months, Milwaukee has lost 10 prosecutors, with the majority taking prosecutorial roles with other government organizations, Chisholm said.

“Uniformly they said we love it, we just can’t afford to do it at this level anymore,” said Chisholm.

Working for the Public

But not all attorneys in the public sector move on to greener pastures. Daniel M. Berkos, chairman of the SPD Board, said the agency has staff attorneys who have worked there since its creation in 1978.

Even though SPD salaries essentially mirror those of public service organizations, Berkos said there is an advantage to doing criminal defense in the public sector.

“The advantage we’ll always hold over the private sector is that recruits will be attorneys from day one,” said Berkos. “They won’t be sitting at a desk shuffling papers. They are going to get active.”

Marquette Law School Assistant Dean for Career Planning Paul D. Katzman said his staff typically tries to place a graduate with his or her best professional fit. He also concedes that with an average debt load of $80,000, many Marquette graduates simply can’t afford to work in the public sector.

Of the 196 graduates in the 2007 class, almost 60 percent joined private law firms, compared to about 10 percent who took jobs with public interest or government agencies, excluding judicial clerkships.

The average salary for 2007 graduates who joined the public sector was $42,000 compared to $73,000 for those who joined private law firms.

“If graduates have significant debt it’s a challenge for them to take a position that they might find more satisfying if it’s going to be difficult to make ends meet,” said Katzman.

“That tends to consistently limit the number of grads who go into public service.”

For Klinge, pinching a few pennies in exchange for experience doing something she loves is worth it.

“Sure there is pressure to make ends meet and I don’t know if what I’m doing will financially cut it forever,” said Klinge. “I just didn’t want to be sitting behind a desk writing memos and briefs for higher up attorneys for the first five years of my career.”