25. Judicial Salaries

Yesterday Law.com began an article about judicial pay this way: "Trial court judges in 17 states have received pay raises in the past six months, but on average their salaries remain on par with first-year associates at the nation's largest law firms." 

There are two reasons why salaries for first-year associates at the biggest firms are high.  First, as James Stewart showed us two decades ago, the big law firms are economically dependent on a steady inflow of new associates (and a nearly equivalent outflow of senior associates) to bring in revenue without sharing the profits.   The big firms effectively subsidize the law schools that churn out the graduates they want, by giving the graduates the money needed to repay enormous student loans. 

Second, being a junior associate at a large law firm is the worst job in the legal world.   A first-year associate at a big firm is  self-condemned to perform drudgery, much of it literally as well as existentially meaningless, for the financial benefit of an organization in which she is highly unlikely ever to own an equity stake.   Bright, ambitious lawyers won't abase themselves that way for less than top dollar. 

So comparing the salary of judges to that of first-year associates in big firms is pretty meaningless.  It makes more sense to look at the average salary of lawyers as a profession.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2004 average was a bit less than $100,000, assuming a 40-hour week and 50-week year. 

The mean salary for state court trial judges is $117,328, according to the National Center for State Courts.  So the state judge is actually ahead of the game, financially speaking.  But, even so, money is the least attractive part of being a judge.  Judgeships are for lawyers who want power as well as money.  If we assume for purposes of argument that the average state judge could command a premium in private practice, say a million dollars per year, then it follows that the state judge who earns $117,328 values the power of the office at more than $882,672. 

Being a judge is an extremely well-compensated gig.  It's just that some of the richest compensation doesn't come in the form of money.