Corporate Perks Candidates are Asking for in 2025
April 10, 2025
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This post was originally published in May 2022 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.
The legal industry keeps growing at a high pace. The need for legal experts and lawyers to advise and run almost every process in which individuals, businesses, and governments are involved has increased the demand for their services. This means that we’ll continue to see more and more law jobs that pay well or above the median salaries in other industries.
With this scenario in mind, being aware of the high-paying law jobs and the occupation insights of the legal sector is key for those fresh graduates and career changers wanting to get into this rewarding industry.
As with many industries in the labor market, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have emerged strong in the legal sector, and despite this fact, employment for law jobs is still expected to grow about 85,600 openings per year on average from 2023 to 2033, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On top of generous and steady paychecks, jobs in law also offer a set of highly pleasing benefits for workers. Therefore, be sure to add the following perks at work to your estimation, so you can consider every variable before making a final decision.
If aside from the rewards, you’re also looking for other appealing aspects, the legal industry is also experiencing some major labor market trends that are reshaping the sector, making it more attractive for young and seasoned professionals from other backgrounds or interests different from law. Here are some of the most relevant:
But that’s enough for contextualization. By now, you should know the legal industry has one of the most promising landscapes in the entire labor market, therefore, it’s time to review some of the highest-paying jobs in law.
Median yearly salary: $160,386
Median hourly wage: $77
Due to the fact that this is an executive-level position, Chief Legal Officers are at the top of the high-paying jobs in law. In this position, you’ll be in charge of keeping their organization up-to-date on any legal changes that could impact it, and overall, overseeing a company’s legal team; this means CLOs are also responsible for hiring, training, and guiding department lawyers throughout legal proceedings.
As the figure responsible for every legal aspect and process of a company, Chief Legal Officers use their expertise to reduce a business’ legal risks, including potential litigation threats. Last but not least, as an executive role, CLOs mostly interact with an organization’s officers and board members.
Median yearly salary: $145,760
Median hourly wage: $70.08
Lawyers remain one of the highest-paying jobs you could land with a law degree or at least they have a higher earning potential. Depending on the specialization you practice, as an attorney, you’ll represent individuals, businesses, and government agencies during a legal dispute. Their field of work can go from private and corporate legal offices to federal, local, or state governments.
Attorney’s job outlook is to grow 5% from 2023 to 2033, representing around 35,600 job openings for lawyers each year. As mentioned above, a key aspect to consider is the type of law you’ll be practicing, as it will impact your salary. Below, you’ll find some of the highest-paid lawyer specializations:
Median yearly salary: $132,950
Median hourly wage: $63.92
Another really well-paid position in the legal field is for one of the leading authorities during processes. To understand their importance and why it’s one of the highest-paying law careers, remember one of your fundamental rights as a citizen: the right to a fair trial.
Judges and hearing officers’ responsibilities to guarantee fairness include conducting pretrial hearings, resolving administrative disputes, facilitating negotiations between parties, and issuing legal decisions.
Something else to consider is their projected employment growth, which is 3% from 2023 to 2033; despite the apparently low figure, this means about 1,600 job openings are expected for each year over the decade.
Median yearly salary: $124,904
Median hourly wage: $89.34
Similar to a CLO, a counsel practice is more oriented toward business management and their ability to provide legal advice and guidance to decision-makers. By being aware of a company’s atmosphere, objectives, and activities, they’re able to advise employers about legal issues and defense strategies, as well as monitor the organization’s compliance with any local, state, or federal laws and regulations.
In some cases, a corporate counsel will also be in charge of financial reporting, contract negotiation, overseeing mergers and acquisitions, and even the litigation of lawsuits and internal employees complaints.
Median yearly salary: $107,101
Median hourly wage: $45.91
One job with quite competitive pay and that doesn’t necessarily require a law degree is the intellectual property (IP) paralegal position. Their day-to-day main activity is dealing with copyrights, patents, and trademark laws; as an assisting role for IP attorneys, they’re mostly in charge of creating, reviewing, and filing patent documents, as well as managing clients’ communication.
Median yearly salary: $98,012
Median hourly wage: $31.11
Also known as legal entity consultant, this role is an option for professionals with knowledge or background in the financial industry interested in making a smooth transition into the legal field. As the name implies, a legal entity controller is more involved in the financial management of law firms or legal institutions; therefore, most of your duties will center on organizing financial controls.
Aside from the abilities in technical accounting, this position requires collaboration and strong communication skills to share any insight or financial data with executives and board members.
Median yearly salary: $92,375
Median hourly wage: $39.63
Managing partners is a usual role at law firms, and they’re mostly responsible for setting and strengthening policies and procedures by implementing training, orientation, and counseling programs.
Despite being a more discrete position compared to a firm’s litigators and attorneys, managing partners are a leadership role; in fact, most of the time they’re just below the board of directors in a law firm’s hierarchy. Due to the nature of their role and field, experience as a lawyer, but also in human resources and operations management is required for this law job.
As one of the organizational heads of a law firm, managing partners are also in charge of the organizational, financial, and operational strategies, as well as overseeing that legal practices are ethical and prevent any internal or external practices.
Median yearly salary: $71,540
Median hourly wage: $34.39
Out of the top half of this list, but with quite good salaries, are arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators. Their job is facilitating negotiation and dialogue between opposing parties to resolve the conflict outside a courtroom.
Even though most of the time, a bachelor’s degree is required for these positions, candidates interested in this role can learn their skills through a combination of education, training, and work experience. On the other hand, the growth projection for this position—6% from 2023 to 2033—is faster than the average for all occupations, and about 300 openings are expected per year.
Median yearly salary: $63,940
Median hourly wage: $30.74
All the work made by judges and lawyers during trials would be lost in time if it wasn’t for the people in charge of keeping the record. This task is performed by court reporters —who create word-for-word transcriptions of trials, depositions, and other legal proceedings— and Simultaneous Captioners —whose function, on the other hand, is to provide similar transcriptions for television, press conferences, business meetings, or even people who are hard of hearing.
Who would’ve thought that a list of top-paying legal careers would include a profession where a law degree isn’t even needed?
Similar to a judge’s job outlook, these careers are expected to grow by 2% during the current decade. This percentage represents around 1,600 job openings for court reporters and simultaneous captioners per year.
Median yearly salary: $60,970
Median hourly wage: $29.31
Speaking of high-paying legal jobs that don’t require a law degree, the fourth place from the top is for Paralegals and Legal Assistants. Have you ever wondered how much paralegals make? Or what does a paralegal do? Well, they support lawyers by gathering case facts, writing reports, scheduling meetings, or preparing documents before a trial.
The expected growth until 2033 for paralegals and legal assistants is 1%; nevertheless, don’t be misled by the low percentage, as it will turn into approximately 37,300 openings per year.
As you can see, the future is bright for the legal industry, both for the number of openings projected for the current decade and the yearly salary offered by most of these positions. Also, remember that the legal field encompasses far more professions, so you’ll find far more jobs that pay well besides the ones listed above.
Law jobs are challenging and have periods of heavy pressure. If you’re willing to make a career change and accomplish your goals, be confident that you have what it takes to get the job done.
Get in contact with a gpac recruiter for advice on how to start your path toward a legal career!
Here are some frequently asked questions related to the highest-paying law jobs:
Corporate law, intellectual property, tax law, medical malpractice, and entertainment are some of the highest-paying legal fields. Additionally, experienced trial lawyers and top-tier litigators can earn substantial salaries, especially when handling high-profile cases.
Some of the metropolitan areas with the highest salaries for legal occupations are San Jose, Bridgeport, Boulder, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. While California, New York, and Massachusetts rank among the states with the highest pay for jobs in law.
You can increase your earning potential as a lawyer by increasing your expertise in emerging legal fields and improving your communication, research and analysis, organization, and problem-solving skills. Strengthening your reputation, network, and business acumen can also increase your chances of earning more money.
Larger law firms, especially those in the “Big Law” category, tend to offer higher salaries and bonuses, as well as better corporate benefits and career growth, than small or mid-sized firms.
Although the legal jobs in the public sector often pay less than those in private law firms, they offer better job stability, work-life balance, and other benefits such as loan forgiveness programs and tuition reimbursement.
When it comes to lawyers and attorneys, corporate lawyers and intellectual property lawyers are two of the highest-paying positions in the legal industry. Speaking about executive-level positions, the Chief Legal Officer role remains the highest-paying law job.
In-house counseling positions, estate planning, real estate, intellectual property, and compliance lawyers are some high-paying law jobs with lower stress levels compared to litigators. These roles usually face fewer adversarial interactions and strict deadlines, and they offer a better work-life balance.
Depending on the state, some of the most in-demand types of lawyers are those related to intellectual property law, cybersecurity and data privacy law, family law, immigration law, and corporate law.
Contributed by Luis Arellano
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