What About State Judicial Pay? Some Celebrity Correspondence from Justice Emily Goodman
We agree that federal judicial pay needs to rise. But despite our sympathy for the cause, we’re getting tired of hearing about the need to raise salaries for federal judges. (The latest voice to weigh in on the debate, former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, is pretty random.)
So enough about federal judicial compensation. What about salaries for state court judges?
Yes, sometimes we poke good-natured fun at members of state judiciaries. But in all seriousness, state judges play a crucial role in the administration of justice — in the aggregate, arguably a larger role than federal judges (including the Supremes).
Many state court judges work long hours and perform excellent work on the bench. Many are widely admired for their diligence and their competence. And yet their pay, like that of federal judges, ain’t so hot.
Consider this email, which we publish with her permission, from the Honorable Emily Jane Goodman, a justice of the New York Supreme Court:
From: Emily Goodman
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 11:49 AM
To: AboveTheLaw Tips
Cc: Justice Emily Goodman
Subject: AboveTheLaw TipAbout the LIST OF SHAME, why not mention the salaries of NYS judges (of which I am one)?
Emily Jane Goodman
NYS
JSCThis message may have been intercepted and read by government agencies including the FBI, CIA, NSA without notice or warrant or knowledge of sender or recepient.
(By the way, we love that little disclaimer at the end about warrentless communications monitoring.)
We followed up with Justice Goodman, who offered some additional thoughts:
[A] NYS Supreme Court justice is paid $136,700 per year. We have not had a raise in 8 or 9 years; we’ve had only 2 in 2 decades! There are no COLAS, no bonuses, no outside employment. (Compare and contrast with a first year associate — you do the math!)
This is indeed troubling. Remember Dan Alterman’s estimate of $47,000, for the value of the billable hours spent on the Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell hearing — in New York Supreme Court, of all places? Two days’ worth of such hearings — a morning hearing, and an afternoon one — would easily eclipse the annual salary of the jurist hearing the case.
More from Justice Goodman on state judicial pay, after the jump.
Justice Goodman explains why salaries for New York Supreme Court justices are so low:
The reason: The legislature controls the purse strings and refuses to enact an increase in judicial salaries without raising their own. Since they have been so often described as “dysfunctional,” apparently they have considered it impolitic, and not likely to be well-received by their constituents, to raise their own salaries. So on the salary issue the judges are stuck in bed with the legislators, but we want a divorce!
HA! This is excellent, funny, lively writing. It’s too bad most judges aren’t such engaging prose stylists. Then again, most judges aren’t graduates of Columbia Journalism School, who also write for The Nation.
Justice Goodman continues:
[Separating judicial salaries from legislative ones] has proved to be impossible in recent years. Enter E. Spitzer who has included an item in his budget for judicial salaries, but that would have to be adopted by the legislature. Also, there has been money in the OCA budget for judicial salary increases, but that also needs a legislative enactment to trigger the release of the money.Hear hear! We hope that some public attention is paid to the issue of low state judicial salaries, so progress can be made on this front. We will do what we can here at ATL to push the issue.There is talk of a Commission to establish what judges’, legislators and certain officials should be paid, but that, too, needs the consent of the Legislature. I say, SHOW ME THE MONEY.
emily
This message may have been intercepted and read by government agencies including the FBI, CIA, NSA without notice or warrant or knowledge of sender or recepient.
Finally, we thank Justice Goodman for her message. We get such a thrill from judicial email in our inbox!
P.S. In case you’re counting, Justice Goodman is the third judge to write in to us here at Above the Law. Our first two judicial correspondents were Judge Morris Arnold, of the Eighth Circuit, and Judge Alex Kozinski, of the Ninth Circuit. How neat!
Justice Emily Jane Goodman [chambers information]
Justice Emily Jane Goodman [bio]
Earlier: Flying the Friendly, Federal Judicial Skies: An Open Letter from Judge Alex Kozinski
Wherein We Receive An Email from Celebrity Judge Morris Arnold
(57) Comments
Comments
What is the issue here? Public sector salaries are never going to, nor should they, match private sector ones at the upper margins. Nearly 137k a year ain't too shabby for the public sector. Compare with the top salaries of FEDERAL gov't officials, not to mention state. Find me another job with the same job security, workload, level of assistance, prestige and power that pays the same amount.
To any hiring manager reading this board. Please hire more tier 2 grads. We're hard working, loyal, and appreciate the value of a six figure salary.
Loyola 2L:
I want to be your therapist. I will give you a discount: $200/hr.
You will make me a millionaire soon.
Dr. Shrink
I hope all of you rich top school grads who have been given opportunities to contribute as biglaw attorneys, judges and professors get your salary increases. But please do remember the plight of us unemployed tier 2 grads.
This is the kind of job we'll have to take. For a reported $42,000 per year and with a $150,000 debt noose around our neck.
http://nycinsurancelaw.googlepages.com/leahey&johnson
This place is an absolute hell. No attorney should be subjected to this place.
If there is a National holiday and the office must be closed at the direction of
the US Government, they do what is called "motion madness" meaning you must
draft three motions before leaving so that the named partners feel as if you have
earned your day off. Many attorneys work for below average salary and must work
every other Saturday in a suit, no exceptions. Many people begin work one day
and go out to lunch and never come back. Partners recently have quit the law
firm without even having a position or partnership at another law firm before
deciding to leave. All attorneys work from 7:30-8 am until 7-9 pm. The
Saturday schedule is from 9 am - 3pm.
The interview process is not difficult. Simply sound somewhat intelligent and
one should be able to land a position. This law firm is always desperate for
attorneys since the average turn around is three to six months. It is a great
stepping stone for someone straight out of law school.
You will be extremely underpaid, and you will not be able to work-out any
increases.
11:35 - Can I please have a job instead? That's really all us tier 2 grads are asking for.
11:35 - Can I please have a job instead? That's really all us tier 2 grads are asking for.
I WOULD HAVE HERNIA SURGERY WITHOUT ANESTHETIC IF IT WOULD GET ME A BIGLAW JOB
The Loyola 2L comments have reached a point where they must stop. 20-25 percent of all comments on this blog seem to be either: (a) by "Loyola 2L" or (b) responding to some irrelevant comment by Loyola 2L.
Loyola 2L has hijacked this board, and everyone is letting him/her/it get away with it. The concept was funny at first, but not it is becoming too much of a distraction.
Anyone here familiar with the Greedy New York board should cringe at the thought of "deby" or "kopper." That troll absolutely crippled the board (and it doesn't seem to have recovered yet).
So, all this is to say: STOP FEEDING THE TROLL!!!
Sorry if my stories of real world tier 2 unemployment interfered with your belief that you have a G_d given right to a raise to $160.
I'm only pointing out there are a ton of competent, hard working, and appreciative tier 2 students out there who should be given a second look by people making hiring decisions.
Loyola 2L is working on his or her advocacy skills.
Back to the subject...11:30 said public sector salaries shouldn't match private ones? I don't understand this logic at all. If public sector salaries were raised, competition would increase for those positions, and better people would be hired. Public interest jobs would have brighter people and the poor and oppressed would benefit. Or is that just to good to be true?
Public sector jobs already attract top-notch candidates:
see USAO SDNY
Z - The logic goes something like this: The state should not become like the free market in determining wages if we are to live in a market economy. The wages of public sector positions are not based on revenue streams, shareholder value, or other free market competition-based metrics. Competition is already incredibly fierce for certain public sector jobs, if not the fiercest by far in the country for others (see: president). The level of competition is hardly related to the size of the salary. The intangible benefits are far more highly valued. That public sector salaries at the margins should not match private sector ones is indisputable. What is at issue here is the salary for a NY supreme court justice, which, to me, sounds fair. The fact that isn't has been raised in eight or nine issues is certainly a relevant issue, though. A raise soundsl it is due, but the raise should not match that of a seventh-year associate.
Lat, there are at least two visible typos in your post. I know it's lunchtime, but that's no excuse for not proofreading.
There are very few USAO SDNY jobs out there that carry such prestige. Also, attorneys in the USAO do not work there for their entire career. When they are done, they go become partners making 6 figures at various law firms. The problems arise for public servants whose jobs are necessary but who cannot afford to have a career off of it. See, e.g., Luttig's departure for Boening explicitly so he can afford to send his kids to college (though his relationship with the current administration may have had something to do with it). There is something wrong when I make more money as a 26 year old associate than a state judge working incredibly important matters in NYC.
Justice Goodman is a tier 2 grad. Brooklyn 1968.
http://207.29.128.48/judge/JudgeDetail?judge_cars_id=7016793
Look... nurses adn school teachers make lousy pay for the critically important jobs they do. Why should judges, also critically important, be any different.
12:10 PM: Proofreading is so MSM. This is a blog. If you have to crank out a dozen posts a day, by yourself, typos will get made.
Lat doesn't have copy editors. I would rather have more content on the site, with typos, than a handful of beautiful, copy-edited posts.
Anyway, you might as well stop playing guessing games, and just point out the typos to him. That would be more efficient.
I'm not sure of the specifics, but I think, at least in Mass, state judges get something like 14 weeks of vacation.
I don't think this is an issue, like others have said, they are state employees, and in our society state employees typically make less than private sector ones. With that being said, when you factor in the other perks of the job (the connections, getting out of speeding tickets, etc) and the significant amount of vacation time. I think their salaries are fair.
It makes sense, the free market argument, coupled with the intangible benefits argument. However, the current issue I'm hearing about at school is the debt to salary ratio of public interest jobs right out of law school: few people can afford to go into PI jobs. I know that is a little off subject (Judicial Pay) but it is an interesting topic.
I don't think judges (fed. or state) should make partner $$$. That's silly.
But it wouldn't hurt to index judicial pay to inflation on an annual basis, or to provide them with COLAs every few years. It's hard to argue with that.
There a ton of tier 2 grads who would readily take a PI job. We can't get them because they only go to top school grads or top 10% tier 2 grads.
It is absurd to claim that to have one spouse making over 130k a year in a two-income household (as most judges are probably married) is going to put a financial strain on the family in terms of sending kids to college and just living comfortably in general. A "strain" will only exist if this family is living wildly outside of its means; if it is going on outsized vacations; if it is buying condos in Vail, etc., etc.
Loyola 2L - there are plenty of tier 2 grads in BigLaw. They just had initiative and went out and tried instead of bitching about being tier 2 on a webpost.
The public sector salaries have just not been able to keep up with the tremendous private sector growth we've seen over the last 30 years. It is getting to the point now where almost every government job is grossly underpaid. This includes congressional staffers making 24,000 a year to state and federal judges making 100k+. This isn't a problem per se, but is slowly becoming a problem when the quality of public servant diminishes to a certain level and we start to see a mass exodus from the public sector to the private.
Also, a public interest job is not the same as a public sector job.
I agree w/ 12:29. 130K for state judges is still a lot of money when you compare it to almost any other national average (w/ the exceptions being Biglaw, IB, certain doctors, etc.). So it's not like these people are poor by any means.
Arguably, the far superior pay on the private sector side acts to prevent the "best" legal minds from wanting to be judges... but I don't really think that's the case. It's similar to law professors. Clearly, profs don't make as much biglaw partners (or associates). But the other perks of the job make up for the lesser pay, at least in the minds of people taking those jobs.
What do you recommend I do 12:33? Keep in mind I'm not top 10%.
Search Martindale for loyola grads who are in Big Law and start networking. Study harder. Post your resume on this site so your fellow commenters can help you out. Speak with professors who may know BigLaw attorneys for you to speak with. Either do all that, or suck it up and take your $40k. You had a choice before you went to a tier 2 - don't make everyone else pay for it.
So I should (1) Post my resume here and (2) start cold calling Loyola biglaw associates at law firms. You sure that would help?
So what would you do if tier 2 students from your alma matta started cold calling you?
Yes, you should. If they called me, I'd appreciate their sense of initiative and see what I could do, even if they had to start at a MidLaw firm first. I know many tier 2 people who have great jobs because they showed a lot of initiative. You seem to have a lot of energy - you should try to use it productively. With all the time you waste here, you could probably publish a few articles in a field you are interested in and leverage that into some interviews. If you don't do any of that or similar things, it isn't the fact that you are in tier 2 that is holding you back, but rather that you are lazy and don't really want to work at Big Law.
12:51 L2L
I have never not responded to a call, email or resume from a student at my law school. Of course you should try to do whatever it takes to get the job you want. Even the things you feel are humbling. Actually, especially the things you feel are humbling.
Why not consider the DC market? You could try to get into a non traditional legal career like a trade association - get some experience and then try to lateral in to BigLaw. It just may work.
(I know I should ignore him, but I just can't take the whining and self loathing anymore.)
I don't think the argument is that NYS judges and their families are starving. The argument is that when you can make more as a junior associate than a judge, the quality of judges will inevitably suffer. Fewer quality lawyers will leave private practice for the bench, and those on the bench will be gunning to go/return to private practice. Thus, the number of long-term, quality judges drops.
Another effect is that the bench will be disproportionately filled with former AUSAs/ADAs who are committed to public service (and satisfied enough with its pay). These folks aren't necessarily bad judges, but the effect is to skew the bench in favor of prosecutors, and leave the bench lacking in civil experience.
For what it's worth, I've been before Goodman (oddly, both as a juror and a lawyer). She's a good judge. It would be a loss for the bench to have her (and those like her) skip to a big firm to make 10x the money -- as many inevitably will.
First of all thank you for taking calls from tier 2 grads at your alma matta. If you're being honest - please do provide your information so students with initiative can give you a call and you can reward their initiative. As far as I know, there is no list of "Biglaw associates you can call for connections" at my tier 2.
In my experience, Loyola students who reached out to Loyola grads for help were quickly told about the absolutely inflexible top 10% cutoff. If career services isn't willing to do anything more for you than tell you to get good grades and tell you to network - it's hard to believe some biglaw associate is willing to help.
Further, why does everyone assume that unemployed tier 2 grads are just sitting on their ass all day? Is it possible that I sent out hundreds of resumes, networked and am doing all the other stuff? Could it be that good jobs are just very hard to get and that 90% of tier 2 grads have little chance in hell at getting one? For your information I spend about 30 minutes a day on here max. It doesn't take me an hour to read a comment and reply.
I understand that you top school grads want to feel entitled to a $160k salary, and you absolute hate to know of the army of tier 2 students out there would kill for your current salary, but we exist and we would do a great job if given your opportunity. Sorry but we're not going away.
L 2L: it appears that you are not going away from this board.
Why does every thread on this website devolve into Loyola 2L-related CRAP??!?!?!?!? Lat, for the sake of keeping your forums intelligent, dynamic and interesting, please do something about this. Intervention is imperative!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Loyola 2L:
I know of a firm which may have a need for someone with your impressive credentials.
"Wachtell Lipton Rosen Katz." Do google search for address and phone number.
This firm is in NYC, so you may have to relocate.
to respond to your comments:
(1) have YOU yourself actually tried to look up any loyola grads and contact them? what about grads of your undergraduate institution who may be practicing law? have you?
(2) You did not attend my law school, so providing my info to you would be of no benefit. Students with initiative have no trouble finding me as it is.
(3) Stop blaming career services and Loyola.
(4) what did you think you were getting into when you went to loyola? you are getting a law degree anyway, which is a hell of a lot better than the rest of the population. many people who can barely scrape 25k would kill for your position.
(5) Besides blindly emailing out your resume, what else do you do to increase your chances at getting a higher paying job?
(6) Tier 1 grads do not all feel"entitled". Not that you necessarily haven't, but many have worked hard their entire lives, and continue to do so and work a good deal of pro bono, and donate to charities. I for one am very thankful to have my job, and feel lucky and rewarded, not entitled. Nobody hates that an army of tier 2 students would kill for biglaw salaries. if anything, tier 1 students should fear tier 2 students who really hustle for biglaw jobs, and just laugh at any tier 2 students who don't.
(7) 30 minutes a day on a mindwasting tier 1 bashing activity is actually a pretty significant portion of your day. maybe you should try to add that time to your job networking. maybe try to find semester-long internships somewhere were you can network with people?
(8) hope these comments are helping
Loyola 2L (and those who feed the beast): Why not set up your own blog for you and your fans/detractors?
to respond to your comments:
(1) have YOU yourself actually tried to look up any loyola grads and contact them? what about grads of your undergraduate institution who may be practicing law? have you?
(2) You did not attend my law school, so providing my info to you would be of no benefit. Students with initiative have no trouble finding me as it is.
(3) Stop blaming career services and Loyola.
(4) what did you think you were getting into when you went to loyola? you are getting a law degree anyway, which is a hell of a lot better than the rest of the population. many people who can barely scrape 25k would kill for your position.
(5) Besides blindly emailing out your resume, what else do you do to increase your chances at getting a higher paying job?
(6) Tier 1 grads do not all feel"entitled". Not that you necessarily haven't, but many have worked hard their entire lives, and continue to do so and work a good deal of pro bono, and donate to charities. I for one am very thankful to have my job, and feel lucky and rewarded, not entitled. Nobody hates that an army of tier 2 students would kill for biglaw salaries. if anything, tier 1 students should fear tier 2 students who really hustle for biglaw jobs, and just laugh at any tier 2 students who don't.
(7) 30 minutes a day on a mindwasting tier 1 bashing activity is actually a pretty significant portion of your day. maybe you should try to add that time to your job networking. maybe try to find semester-long internships somewhere were you can network with people?
(8) hope these comments are helping
Loyola 2 should try to get a job as a contract attorney at a big firm. If he/she does well, there is the possibility of promotion to associate -- at full pay. I have seen this happen several times at top-flight firms where I have worked.
1:23 - Why not publish your information so students from your tier 2 can call you. How are they supposed to find you? You, someone willing to take time to help students from your alma matta, are a rare find. If you're telling the truth that is . . .
1:34 - My goal at this point is doc review or a contract position. At this point I'm realistic enough to know it has little chance of turning into a full time position, but the salaries of contract attorneys and doc reviewers aren't really that bad. Beats $42k and working for a sweatshop firm.
The people out there who think that the "perks" of being a judge make up for the salary difference are seriously deluded and obviously do not have any idea what goes on in chambers. When I clerked, I worked 6 days a week, including on federal holidays and so did the judge. People whine about judges being on vacation for months at a time while their motions languish, but you really have no idea. everyone thinks their case is the most pressing one and that their motions have to be decided first but you don't know what else is on the docket. You don't know how many MDLs the judge is handling. Having been there, I say that judges certainly work as hard if not harder than big law firm partners and they really are not being compensated enough. And for those who that a $100K+ salary is enough don't have a clue about that either. While it may be fine fresh out of law school, living expenses increase as life goes on. Mortgages to pay, kids to put through school, etc. And don't just assume that the judge is living in a 2-income house - could be single, divorced, widowed, whatever.
Loyola - as I mentioned, students with initiative find me. if I went around posting my info, that kind of defeats the purpose. I'm not offering to help every single student like with an advertisement. However, if they take an extra step to find me in the directory, I am happy to help. I think this concept you don't seem to understand about having to work for it yourself and not expecting it to land in your lap is what is holding you back. I took time to give you some suggestions to help your career, and you could only focus on why I am not advertising the fact that I am willing to help people by posting my contact information. Don't you see the difference between being willing to help if someone shows they want it, versus helping every person who is too lazy to run a search and reach out?
I guess this gives us tier 2 grads some hope. Everytime I call an alum, I get a standard answer. It goes something like "Sorry our firm has a very strict top 10% only policy for interviews." Some even fib enough to say the policy applies even to Harvard grads (there's no way it does.) They make it seem like they have no control over it.
But it's good to know there are people like you out there.
So tier 2 grads get on the phone and start cold calling! There are helpful people out there.
Thank you, "Anonymous" at 1:34 PM -- exactly what I was going to say. L2L, if you are committed, get a contract attorney job. They are not particularly hard to get, they give you a line on the resume, and I have seen them lead to associate positions. If you're as hard-working as you say, then you will surely stand out from the rest of the pack of contract attorneys (many of whom are quite mediocre, at best).
Let's also note that clearly you spend more than 30 minutes posting on here; because you post every 20 minutes. I sincerely doubt you are doing something productive in the interim between your many, many posts.
So there you have it. All the advice you need is on this page. So stop posting. (And I vow never again to feed this troll).
Thank you, "Anonymous" at 1:34 PM -- exactly what I was going to say. L2L, if you are committed, get a contract attorney job. They are not particularly hard to get, they give you a line on the resume, and I have seen them lead to associate positions. If you're as hard-working as you say, then you will surely stand out from the rest of the pack of contract attorneys (many of whom are quite mediocre, at best).
Let's also note that clearly you spend more than 30 minutes posting on here; because you post every 20 minutes. I sincerely doubt you are doing something productive in the interim between your many, many posts.
So there you have it. All the advice you need is on this page. So stop posting. (And I vow never again to feed this troll).
In my eyes a contract position would be success. I have to pass the bar first, but I think if I network enough I can realistically get one. That's my hope anyway.
Do people at firms even know which attorneys are full time and which are contract? It's basically like being an associate, except you're paid a little less.
On average I spend 30 min a day. Like yesterday I wasn't on here at all. Other people using the Loyola 2L moniker might have been but not me.
To everyone besides L2L - I just can't resist anymore and I write this with the hope that some constructive advice might actually get the real L2L (the imposters at this point must be legion) to stop interfering with discussion relevant to the topics at hand.
L2L -
Full disclosure - I am a 2-Tier grad and I did end 1st year and graduate in the Top 10% of my class. I obtained my Biglaw position in the typical OCI manner (the hiring cutoff for which, BTW, depending on other skills, e.g., a MBA, was not an arbitrary 10%). However, being a 2nd tier graduate, I know of many, many alumni who obtained Biglaw jobs who did not get them from OCI's after their first year.
One leveraged a strong relationship with one of his professors to obtain a position at the SEC upon graduation. After working there for a few years, a Top 5 firm hired him with a signing bonus as a lateral. Others had similar experiences after obtaining positions with the NYSE or other market/securities-related entities. Others obtained positions in businesses or banking or, yes, insurance and made the lateral move later (a few of them moved back after seeing what it's like to work in Biglaw - which brings up a separate point: be careful what you wish for.)
If it's litigation you're interested in there are plenty of Biglaw litigators who earned their stripes as a District Attorney (which is a position that is by no means out of reach of a Tier 2 grad in the Top 25% of their class, as you represent yourself to be).
On another point, some Biglaw firms simply do not hire 1st years from a Tier 2 school. They wait until the end of the 2nd year to obtain a fuller picture of the applicant. Did the 3L make a journal or moot court? If so, did he find the time and put the effort forward to really contribute something to that organization, or did he rest on his laurels? If he didn't obtain one of those honors, did he find some other way to manage his time constructively and obtain relevant experience - internships, participation in public interest work, etc.? If his grades were a little lower than they liked to see after 1st year, did they put in a stunning performance in 2nd year and pull them up?
The reality is that although it's not impossible, you're probably not going to graduate with a Biglaw job, or one that pays nearly as much, but that doesn't meant that one is entirely out of your reach. It just might take longer.
Networking with Loyola grads is a really good idea. I, also, have never not returned a call and geniunely tried to help the people from my school when they have reached out to me. You shouldn't call asking for a job, however, less senior alumni will simply not be able to do anything for you and more senior alumni simply don't know you from Adam.
Instead call or write them, tell them your situation (in a very matter-of-fact kind of way, not in a desperate one), tell them that you're interested in the kind of work they do and ask, politely, if they could find some time to discuss the realities of their job and how someone in your situation might obtain a similar position. You'll gain at least three things from this when someone responds: 1) Knowledge about the different types of law Biglaw associates practice and the day-to-day realities of thier job, which will help you make an informed decision (hopefully at some point) what kind of law you would like to practice; 2) Knowledge of how others in similar situations to yours suceeded in getting Biglaw jobs, which will help you plan your path to one, as well; and 3) Alleviation of the whole I-don't-know-this-person-from-Adam thing.
Who knows, maybe someone will be impressed by your iniative and your personality and pass your resume (you should ask them to give you advice on its presentation and content, not with a request to have them give it to HR) on to someone else or think of you when his firm does have an opening or at least know you from Adam when you eventually apply. Do not ask them for a job at any point, however, it makes you look disengenuous and you are trying to leave a positive impression on the people you come in contact with. They have to take the initiative in that regard.
I hope this helps. And politely request that you find a more appropriate forum to seek career advice. Good luck.
Thanks I'll save that and read it later. I'm only taking a 10 second break right now and have to get going, but it's in my internet favorites to read later.
Justice Goodman is CUTE!!!
yeah, why did no one notice that this judge is a TOTAL HOTTIE?
BY JUDGE STANDRADS, I MEAN
Got a thing for old ladies eh?
The good judge is goodliciously comely
I do think that many state judges *are* underpaid but I am more appalled by the starting salary in Massachusetts for Assistant DAs which is $37,000. I would have a tough time paying my rent, utilities, credit card, and car insurance on this salary, and I don't live in an expensive area (nor am I extragant although am reluctant to give up cable or my cell phone, both of which it could be argued are luxuries). I've heard that the single ones get part time jobs to make ends meet but that sounds exhausting on top of already long hours (and is prohibited in some districts).
oh - give me a break Lillian. I live in Boston now (well, Cambridge) and make 39k. I manage to pay all my bills, rent, etc, go on vacation, go out, etc. If you don't have anyone else to support, 37k will do you just fine in Boston providing you dont live above your means.