Of course, you want to make good money when you have spent several years in education. You may have a lot of debt and you believe your qualifications mean that you deserve a high salary. You might be wondering; what are the lowest paid legal positions out there? Let’s take a look at some of them.
Some of the Lowest Paid Legal Jobs
There are some legal jobs out there that are known to have lower salaries than others. But it is important to remember that this will depend on other factors too. Here are some of them.
Legal Aid Attorney
Legal aid is an important service that allows people to access legal services when they cannot afford it. There are some lawyers that volunteer their time to offer these services to their community. However, you can also become a legal aid attorney on a full-time basis. This is a paid legal job but it does not have the range of salary that you may want. For example, it is believed that the average salary of a legal aid attorney is going to be around $42,000. This can be almost half of what a lawyer in another sector receives. You will still have long hours and a lot of difficult work to do on a daily basis. Once you have years of experience and depending on the state, it is possible that the salary will increase to $63,000.
But one of the main reasons why law students still aspire to be a legal aid attorney is because this is a service that is vital to many people. You can have a lot of job satisfaction by helping those on a low income and that cannot afford an attorney. In addition, being a legal aid attorney can be a great way to gain experience and it is something that looks good on your resume and when you are applying to another job.
Immigration Attorney
Unfortunately, compared to the work that you will do, you might not be paid accordingly. For example, the average salary you can expect as an immigration attorney is around $67,000. However, depending on your experience and what part of the country you are working in, this can increase up to about $106,000.
Public Defender
Next on the list is a public defender. Your duty as a public defender is to offer legal representation to criminal defendants that cannot afford to hire a lawyer by themselves. Therefore, you have to do your best to defend what they have been accused of in a hearing or trial. As a public service, you can hear that this legal job has a lot of hours but they are underpaid.
But a lot of law students still want to be a public defender because of the job satisfaction they get. You can help your community and ensure that everybody has access to legal representation when they need it. The average salary that you can expect as a public defender is around $61,000. However, depending on the state you are working in and your experience, this salary can go up to $100,000.
Paralegal
If you are not sure about becoming an attorney, you may consider a legal career as a paralegal. But you may be surprised to hear that this can be one of the lowest paid legal jobs out there. Sometimes, you may be referred to as a legal secretary and you often require to have a degree but you do not have to be authorized to practice law and take the bar exam. Despite the low salary, there is often a lot of competition for paralegal jobs. This can be a stepping stone to becoming a lawyer or because you are not sure what other options you have.
The average salary per year of a paralegal can be around $47,000. However, depending on the law firm, location and other variables, this can rise to $65,000. Of course, you may want to become a paralegal because it suits your interests. Often, you can find a lot of happiness from your career despite the lower salary. It will be your decision about what is most important to you.
Important Things to Remember
However, it is important to remember that money is not everything. Let’s take at a few good reasons why you should not totally dismiss one of these low paying legal jobs that we have told you about.
Follow Your Passion
They always say that you should do a job that you love. Indeed, this is the same if you are a law student. You have spent many years training and going through education. You want all of your hard work to be worth it. This means pursuing something that you care about. Just taking a job because it pays a lot of money will not always make you happy. A lot of people have passions that they want to pursue in order to feel like they are giving back to their community and making a difference. Therefore, you can love what you are doing every day by following your passions, even if this means it is a lower paid legal job.
Enjoy Career Satisfaction
Nobody wants a job that they hate. You should never feel like you are not looking forward to getting up in the morning and heading to work. Thus, you want to find a job that offers you career satisfaction. Sure, you are not going to like all aspects of your career. But you want to feel like you are making a difference and using the skills that you have learned over the years. Career satisfaction should be something that comes first over making a lot of money, as often, this is not what makes you happy.
Gain Legal Experience
Sometimes, you may have to take on lower paying legal jobs in order to get to where you want. Thus, do not rule out taking a job that does not offer the salary you want to begin with. This could allow you to gain the experience and skills that you need to land your dream job later on. Taking a lower paid job for a few years can make all of the difference, as it can look good on your resume and allow you to enter the legal world and see if it was what you were expecting. You can almost think about it as a life internship.
Consider Other Perks
You may decide to take a low-paying legal job due to other factors that are not concerning money. For example, there may be other perks offered with the position. This could include gym memberships, train tickets or other money-saving offers that suit your lifestyle. This is something that you can look into and see whether these are perks that you would enjoy using in your day-to-day life.
Distance and Location
If you are a law student, you may be looking for jobs in a certain city or location from your home. This often can dictate what jobs are available for you. You may decide that the distance and location of the legal job are more important than how much you get paid. It is about thinking what your priorities are and everyone is going to have a different answer. There might be a number of reasons why you want to work in a certain location. For example, this could be because of your property, family or law school. Whatever the reason is, right to figure out what your priorities are and what you can do about them.
Having a Healthy Work-Life Balance
A lot of legal jobs are known to be demanding and having exceptionally long hours. You need to decide whether this is something you really want to do. If you are taking on this type of career just for the money, your mental health could suffer. Thus, you need to consider your perfect work-life balance. This way, even if you take on a lower paying legal job, you can be happy and satisfied with your decision. You can know that you have more of your own time to spend with your family or enjoy your favorite hobbies.
