27:["$","$L28",null,{"category":"$29","relatedArticles":[{"id":"cG9zdDo1NzI4NA==","databaseId":57284,"postId":57284,"author":{"node":{"id":"dXNlcjo1MA==","databaseId":50,"userId":50,"avatar":{"url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/10ca58872f36412ceff58616bb971c22?s=96&d=mm&r=g","size":96,"__typename":"Avatar"},"description":"Amelia Josephson is a writer passionate about covering financial literacy topics. Her areas of expertise include retirement and home buying. Amelia's work has appeared across the web, including on AOL, CBS News and The Simple Dollar. She holds degrees from Columbia and Oxford. Originally from Alaska, Amelia now calls Brooklyn home.","additionalMeta":{"expertise":null,"__typename":"User_Additionalmeta"},"email":null,"firstName":"Amelia","fullName":"Amelia Josephson","lastName":"Josephson","name":"Amelia Josephson","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":334,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnection"},"slug":"ajosephson","__typename":"User"},"__typename":"NodeWithAuthorToUserConnectionEdge"},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybTo4OQ==","children":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":89,"categoryId":89,"link":"https://smartasset.com/career/articles","name":"Career","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":38,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"career","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"}],"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnection"},"content":"$2a","date":"2016-12-07T10:00:53","excerpt":"

Becoming a lawyer is no walk in the park. You have to do well enough in college and on the LSAT to get into law school, graduate from law school, get a job and pass the bar exam. At the …

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Becoming a lawyer is no walk in the park. You have to do well enough in college and on the LSAT to get into law school, graduate from law school, get a job and pass the bar exam. At the end of that process, you might have racked up significant student loan debt. Do lawyers’ salaries make up for the hard work and long hours? Here’s what you should know about the average salary of a lawyer. Consider working with a financial advisor as you assess the potential costs and benefits of a legal career.

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The Average Salary of a Lawyer: An Overview

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Salary.com reports the median salary for lawyers according to six levels of the profession, from Lawyer I up to Lawyer VI. At the beginning level, the median salary as of August 2022 was $100,291; at the highest level, the median salary as of August 2022 was $215,409.

","

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median pay in May 2021 for lawyers in the U.S. was $127,990. That comes out to an hourly pay of $61.53, assuming a 40-hour work week. As most lawyers will tell you, though, the typical work week at a law firm tends to be a lot longer than 40 hours.

","

One of the biggest determinants of salary for lawyers is the type of employer they work for. Lawyers who clock in and out for big corporate law firms will command a much higher salary than those who work as public defenders.

","

Not all lawyers represent individual clients in court. Some work in-house for corporations and non-profits, some work for the government and some work in arbitration or mediation, among other paths. Some lawyers own their own practices while others work at huge, multi-national firms.

","

The Average Salary of a Lawyer: Geography

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Where you work has a lot to do with what you earn as a lawyer. Glassdoor, a salary aggregating site, reports the average salary for New York City lawyers, as of Dec. 13, 2021, was $125,650. The Glassdoor average for Kansas City, MO? $113,474.

","

According to U.S. News, the top-paying state for lawyers isn’t a state – it’s the District of Columbia. There, the annual mean wage for lawyers is $189,560.

","

What about metro areas? The top-paying metro area for lawyers is San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, where lawyers earn an annual mean wage of $231,610. Other top-paying metro areas for lawyers are: Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT; San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA and New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ.

","

The highest-paying metro areas for lawyers aren’t necessarily the metro areas with the highest concentration of lawyers. According to the BLS, the metro area with the highest concentration of lawyers is the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area. But the city with the second-highest concentration of lawyers might surprise you – it’s Tallahassee, FL. Other metro areas with a high concentration of lawyers are: Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA and New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ.

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Becoming a Lawyer

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The BLS projects that between 2016 and 2026, the number of lawyers in the American workplace will grow by 8%, which is about on par with the national average across all jobs. That’s still impressive, given how difficult it is to become a lawyer. Entry-level qualifications for lawyers are strictly enforced. Lawyers must have a J.D. degree and be admitted to the bar.

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The road to becoming an attorney is often a financial slog. The average debt among new lawyers in 2021 was $130,000, an American Bar Association survey showed.

","

Some lawyers take advantage of Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This is a program that offers debt forgiveness for lawyers who practice public interest law. Some law schools run their own version of debt repayment for graduates who take public-interest jobs.

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But there are also lawyers who express doubt that they will ever be able to pay back what they owe. Not everyone who graduates from law school gets a job with a six-figure salary – or any job at all. And if you live in an expensive city or are supporting other members of your family, it could be hard to put a big chunk of even a hefty salary toward paying off debt.

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Bottom Line

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Becoming a lawyer is an expensive and time-consuming undertaking, but can lead to a financially and intellectually rewarding career. If you can succeed in law school and get good jobs and internships along the way, you’ll have a good shot at a high salary. After you’ve successfully paid off your student loans, you can start stashing some of that money away for a peaceful retirement.

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Tips for Saving Responsibly

","$32","

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/Tom Merton, ©iStock.com/skynesher, ©iStock.com/leaf

"],"experts":null,"link":"/career/the-average-salary-of-a-lawyer","published":{"datetime":"2016-12-7","readable":"December 7, 2016"},"shareInfo":{"title":"The Average Salary of a Lawyer","origin":"/career/the-average-salary-of-a-lawyer"},"isNewsArticle":false},{"id":"cG9zdDo1MjA4Ng==","databaseId":52086,"postId":52086,"author":{"node":{"id":"dXNlcjo1Mw==","databaseId":53,"userId":53,"avatar":{"url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e108c21a7f5933aad20a2fed390a87d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","size":96,"__typename":"Avatar"},"description":"Amanda Dixon is a personal finance writer and editor with an expertise in taxes and banking. She studied journalism and sociology at the University of Georgia. Her work has been featured in Business Insider, AOL, Bankrate, The Huffington Post, Fox Business News, Mashable and CBS News. Born and raised in metro Atlanta, Amanda currently lives in Brooklyn.","additionalMeta":{"expertise":null,"__typename":"User_Additionalmeta"},"email":null,"firstName":"Amanda","fullName":"Amanda Dixon","lastName":"Dixon","name":"Amanda Dixon","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":184,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnection"},"slug":"adixon","__typename":"User"},"__typename":"NodeWithAuthorToUserConnectionEdge"},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybTo4OQ==","children":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":89,"categoryId":89,"link":"https://smartasset.com/career/articles","name":"Career","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":38,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"career","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"}],"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnection"},"content":"$33","date":"2016-08-16T07:00:56","excerpt":"

If you’re interested in changing jobs or launching a new career, it helps to look at the employment outlook for your new venture. When a particular profession has strong job growth, job hunters can have a greater chance of getting hired. And when wages are growing, workers can often look forward to having more disposable […]

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","

This is SmartAsset’s third annual study of the top ten jobs for salary and growth. Read the 2015 study here.

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Methodology

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To find the best jobs for salary and growth, SmartAsset used 2014 – 2015 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We ranked a total of 756 jobs using the same four metrics that we considered in our 2015 analysis: average annual salaries, one-year salary growth, one-year opportunity growth and the total number of workers in each profession.

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To create our ranking, we looked at the number of standard deviations above or below the mean each job scored for each of our factors. Then we added them together to come up with each profession’s overall ranking.

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Thinking about retirement? Try SmartAsset’s super-smart 401(k) calculator.

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Key Findings

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The job outlook for aviation careers looks good. Three of the top 10 jobs for salary and growth are related to flying planes, testing aircraft equipment and keeping passengers and airline crew members safe.
There’s hope for law school grads. Lawyers take the 57th spot on our list. But job growth for judges and judicial law clerks is relatively strong.

","

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1. Judges, Magistrate Judges and Magistrates

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The number of jobs for lawyers grew by just 1% between 2014 and 2015. Even if job prospects for attorneys don’t look that great, you may want to consider sticking it out and working toward becoming a judge. Our analysis found that they have the best short-term outlook when it comes to salary and opportunity growth.

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The average annual income for judges, magistrate judges and magistrates is $116,100. Judges tend to have more power than magistrates, who handle misdemeanors and minor infractions like traffic violations. District court judges, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, appoint magistrate judges and give them authority over federal matters.

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2. Film and Video Editors

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Last year, the number of film and video editing jobs increased by 13%. If you love movies and you have a knack for editing videos, you could potentially have a promising career ahead of you.

","

California, New York and Florida are just a few of the states that employ the highest number of people interested in video and film editing. So if you haven’t yet thought about moving to New York City or the Los Angeles metro area, you might want to consider it.

","

3. Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technicians

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New spacecraft and aircraft designs have to be tested before they can be implemented. That’s where aerospace engineering and operations technicians come in. These folks run a series of tests to ensure that equipment and instruments for planes and spaceships won’t break down or malfunction.

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Aerospace engineering and operations technicians typically only need an associate’s degree or a certificate from a technical school in order to launch their careers. While they don’t make nearly as much as aerospace engineers, the job growth rate among technicians is significantly higher.

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4. Personal Financial Advisors

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According to our 2015 analysis, personal financial advisors had the best jobs in terms of salary and opportunity growth. While their average annual salaries rose by 9% between 2014 and 2015, the number of financial advisors only grew by 1%.

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In April, the Labor Department unveiled new rules requiring financial advisors to act as fiduciaries when helping people plan for retirement. In other words, retirement advisors are now required to act in their clients’ best interests instead of recommending financial products that would benefit themselves. As a result, we could potentially see fewer people entering the profession in the future.

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5. Airfield Operations Specialists

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About 7,920 people in the U.S. work as airfield operations specialists. Their primary goal is to make sure that everything runs smoothly between the time that a plane takes off and lands. While their annual salary is slightly lower than the national average (in terms of the jobs included in our study), the number of jobs for airfield operations specialists rose by 12% last year.

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6. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

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Out of all of the occupations on our list, oral and maxillofacial surgeons have the third highest annual salaries. On average, they make $233,900 per year. Only anesthesiologists and surgeons rake in more money.

","

There’s a reason why these dental specialists get paid so much. They’re the people who diagnose oral cancer, extract wisdom teeth and perform other surgeries on the mouth, face and jaws. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are required to get additional years of training and certification after attending dental school.

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7. Judicial Law Clerks

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Many law school students graduate with the hopes of landing a judicial clerkship. Law clerks not only write court opinions and assist with courtroom proceedings, but they also help judges decide how to handle their cases.

","

Judicial law clerks saw their annual salaries rise by 10.2% last year. The average law clerk now makes $59,910 annually. For someone who’s fresh out of law school, that’s not a bad starting salary. According to data from the U.S. News & World Report, most law school graduates make between $50,000 and $74,999 once they begin working.

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8. Airline Pilots, Copilots and Flight Engineers

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Whenever you step on a plane, you rely on others to transport you safely. Pilots who work for major airlines typically have about 4,000 hours of flight experience. Copilots need to have at least 1,500 hours of flight time before they can earn the airline transport pilot certificate.

","

According to the BLS, roughly 81,350 people in the U.S. serve as airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers. The number of people filling these positions increased by 7% last year.

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9. Financial Examiners

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Financial examiners keep an eye on banks and other financial institutions to make sure that they’re not doing anything shady or illegal. Many of them ensure that consumers aren’t confronted with unfair lending practices or loans that they can’t pay back. Others ensure that banks aren’t taking on too much risk or making decisions that could jeopardize the entire financial system.

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The short-term job outlook for financial examiners is solid. In 2015, the number of jobs for financial examiners grew by 20%. Only preschool special education teachers, nurse midwives and solar photovoltaic installers had higher rates of job growth.

","

10. Psychiatrists

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Last year, the number of jobs for psychiatrists dipped by 4%. But this career may still be worth pursuing, especially if you’re passionate about helping people deal with mental illnesses and disorders. While you’ll need to go to medical school and complete a four-year residency program, once you do you stand to make more than three times the average salary in the U.S.

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The Bottom Ten Jobs

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The 10 worst jobs for salary and opportunity growth all had annual salaries that were below the national average. $56,532 is the national average annual salary for all of the jobs included in this study. With the exception of tire builders, all of them also had negative job growth between 2014 and 2015. The other jobs at the bottom of our list include: coil winders, tapers and finishers, psychiatric aides, material moving workers, choreographers, metal and plastic layout workers, tank car, truck and ship loaders, entertainment attendants, dancers and gaming service workers.

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The data analysis for this study was completed by Nick Wallace.

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Questions about our study? Contact us at press@smartasset.com.

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Check out SmartAsset’s 2015 list.

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Photo credit: ©iStock.com/Andrew Rich

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A clawback is the legally required return of incentive compensation such as a bonus or stock grant. Once applicable only to top company officers, clawback provisions are appearing in more employment contracts, particularly in the financial services industry. If your contract has a clawback clause, a financial advisor can help you understand the often complex rules and what to do in the event that you face one.

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What Is a Clawback Provision?

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A clawback provision is a section of a contract that stipulates when money must be paid back to an individual, company or another party in the event of someone not performing to a contract. It can also protect a party from losing money due to a mistake that could have been avoided.

","

For example, an employee might sign an employee contract guaranteeing a certain level of performance and in exchange, the company provides a signing bonus. If the individual never shows up for work then the clawback provision would protect the business from losing that money. These provisions have many different uses but are most often used in the financial sector in order to protect the money that people are working with.

","

Corporate Clawback Policies

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In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, clawback clauses are becoming more common in employment contracts. Typically, a company can recoup disbursed funds when there is misconduct, erroneous financial reporting, poor performance or a drop in company profits. But employees who face clawbacks aren’t always personally involved in the triggering event. Someone’s misconduct or mistake in, say, sales can lead to other people in, say, product development having to return compensation to their employer.

","

That said, it’s important to note that clawbacks apply only to incentive compensation like cash bonuses, stock grants and stock options. This means your regular paycheck remains yours.

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Federal Clawback Laws

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Clawbacks can be traced back to the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This was the first federal law that allowed companies to recover incentive compensation from CEOs and CFOs in the event that company misconduct led to discrepancies in financial reporting.

","

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 expanded the reach of clawbacks and the reasons for them. It allowed companies to retrieve incentive compensation from an executive officer and any of the next 20 highest-paid employees. It also added inaccurate financial reporting as a clawback trigger. Companies no longer needed to prove fraud or misconduct. This statute applied only to firms that received funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

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The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act aimed to expand clawbacks even more. A provision within the Dodd-Frank Act proposed that the Securities and Exchange Commission delist any public company that didn’t require clawbacks from executive officers after an accounting restatement. It also put forth that money that had been wrongly paid in the three years before the restatement was eligible for clawbacks from former as well as current senior executives. This rule has not been approved.

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Could You Face a Clawback?

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If you’re signing on as an executive at a large financial services company, your contract may include a clawback clause. Many of the country’s biggest companies have fairly recently put these policies in place. Indeed, while less than 3% of Fortune 100 companies had clawback contracts before 2005, that percentage rose to 82% by 2010.

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Ideally, the prospect of clawbacks protects companies from fraud, keeps employees accurate and boosts investor confidence. From the individual viewpoint, the possibility of clawbacks is also a good reason not to spend your bonus right away (or before you receive it). Many of these policies give companies broad discretion when deciding whether or not to take back executive compensation.

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Other Kinds of Clawbacks

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Clawbacks aren’t only the tool of employers, of course. Other business contracts can also mandate them under the law. Some common examples are below:

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Dividends: Investors in a project promise to return dividends to cover any cash shortfalls.
Life insurance payments: policyholders or their beneficiaries may have to give back payments in the event of a canceled policy.
Government contract payments: The government can recoup funds paid to contractors when work doesn’t meet contractual requirements.
Medicaid coverage: After a Medicaid recipient dies, the government may be able to recover costs from the sale of the deceased’s home.
Pension payments: Companies can require the return of overpayments made by mistake.

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The Bottom Line

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Think of clawback clauses as a company’s insurance policy. In addition to restoring funds, they deter employees from committing fraud while providing incentives to be accurate in their financial reports. What’s more, these provisions ensure that executives perform their duty of financial oversight. As these stipulations become more common, advocates of the clawback hope the trend will lead to better financial practices across the board.

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Tips on Avoiding Clawback

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"],"experts":null,"link":"/career/what-is-a-clawback","published":{"datetime":"2019-5-9","readable":"May 9, 2019"},"shareInfo":{"title":"What Is a Clawback?","origin":"/career/what-is-a-clawback"},"isNewsArticle":false},{"id":"cG9zdDo1NTc3Mg==","databaseId":55772,"postId":55772,"author":{"node":{"id":"dXNlcjo1MA==","databaseId":50,"userId":50,"avatar":{"url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/10ca58872f36412ceff58616bb971c22?s=96&d=mm&r=g","size":96,"__typename":"Avatar"},"description":"Amelia Josephson is a writer passionate about covering financial literacy topics. Her areas of expertise include retirement and home buying. Amelia's work has appeared across the web, including on AOL, CBS News and The Simple Dollar. She holds degrees from Columbia and Oxford. Originally from Alaska, Amelia now calls Brooklyn home.","additionalMeta":{"expertise":null,"__typename":"User_Additionalmeta"},"email":null,"firstName":"Amelia","fullName":"Amelia Josephson","lastName":"Josephson","name":"Amelia Josephson","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":334,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"UserToPostConnection"},"slug":"ajosephson","__typename":"User"},"__typename":"NodeWithAuthorToUserConnectionEdge"},"categories":{"nodes":[{"id":"dGVybTo4OQ==","children":{"nodes":[],"__typename":"CategoryToCategoryConnection"},"databaseId":89,"categoryId":89,"link":"https://smartasset.com/career/articles","name":"Career","postCount":{"pageInfo":{"offsetPagination":{"total":38,"__typename":"OffsetPaginationPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnectionPageInfo"},"__typename":"CategoryToPostConnection"},"slug":"career","ancestors":null,"parent":null,"__typename":"Category"}],"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnection"},"content":"$44","date":"2016-11-04T10:00:42","excerpt":"

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Opening a franchise can be a lower-risk way to start a small business, but it’s not for everyone. For one thing, franchisees have to abide by company rules and the terms of their licensing agreements. So if you prefer to be independent, opening a franchise might not be your best bet. However, if you decide to apply to open a franchise, there are a number of hoops you’ll need to jump through to make it a reality.

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What Is Franchising?

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Franchising gives aspiring business owners the ability to buy into a much larger company and become the owner of one or more locations of that business. A franchisee could be one person or a group of people buying into a franchise together. The franchisee agrees to terms with the larger company on how the business will be run, and in turn they receive the right to operate under that company’s name, logo, reputation etc. They’ll also receive marketing materials, a location, supplies and more.

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Generally speaking, the process of opening a franchise location involves applications, interviews, background checks and more. While this might sound similar to the process of getting a job, the major difference is that franchisees also need the cash to back up their deal. For instance, McDonald’s requires franchisees to have at least $500,000 in liquid assets and pay a $45,000 franchise fee.

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Below, we break down the pros and cons of franchising for those looking into the process.

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Pro #1: Franchises come with a ready-made business plan.

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If you want to start a business but you don’t relish the process of crafting a business plan, choosing what to sell, decorating your store and all the other minutiae involved in setting up an independent shop, buying a franchise might be good option for you. Becoming a franchisee offers a lot of the benefits of starting a small business without some of the start-up headaches.

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Pro #2: Starting a franchise can make it easier to secure financing.

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Some franchised businesses have their own financing arm, meaning that they provide loans for people who want to buy and open a franchise. Now, in-house franchise financing might not always offer the lowest interest rates, and it’s always a good idea to comparison shop. But if you think you might have a tough time getting a traditional small business loan from a bank, going the franchise route can be a good work-around.

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Pro #3: Franchises are less risky than independent businesses.

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If you buy a franchise, you already know that the product is successful. It has brand recognition, for one thing. Assuming the franchise is in a good location and the brand continues to attract customers you should have a pretty solid business on your hands. If you want to be a small business owner but you don’t want to risk a lot of time and capital on a venture that could fail, you might be drawn to franchising.

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Pro #4: It’s easier to get advice about a franchise.

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If you’re considering becoming a franchisee, you can talk to other people who have done the same or read about their experiences online. You can get guidance and learn from the mistakes of others who have opened up branches of the same franchise. Of course, if you open an independent small business you can get general advice, but you’ll have access to more tailored tips with a franchise.

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Con #1: Franchises can come with high start-up costs.

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Starting a franchise might involve higher start-up costs than you would incur if you started an independent small business. If you’re trying to start a small business without taking out a hefty loan or putting a lot of your own capital on the line, becoming a franchisee might not be your best option. Before you commit to one form of business or the other, it’s worth doing a cost comparison.

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Con #2: You have less flexibility with a franchise.

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When you become a franchisee you have to abide by the rules of the franchisor and keep to the terms of your licensing agreement. You can’t shake up things like the products you carry, the look of your store and the uniforms the staff wear. With a franchise, you have less scope for innovation and for personalizing your business.

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Con #3: Franchise fees can really add up.

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Franchisors don’t let you take their logo and run with it. You’ll owe fees to the business from which you buy the franchise. A portion of each month’s profits will leave your coffers and go to the franchisor, per your licensing agreement. Those fees can add up, which is why it’s a good idea to enlist the services of a lawyer to help you get a good deal on your franchise. If you’re fee-averse, you might decide to forgo a franchise altogether.

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Con #4: The fate of your business isn’t entirely in your control.

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$\"Pros$

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Franchisees benefit from the brand recognition of the company whose franchise they buy. However, this also makes them vulnerable if the public turns against that brand. Therefore, your franchise is dependent on the current state of the larger company, as opposed to being able to manage your reputation with your own business. Health scares at another franchise branch, corporate scandals and more can all leave franchisees vulnerable and put their profits in jeopardy.

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Bottom Line

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Becoming a franchisee is a good idea for some, and a bad one for others. Before you commit, it’s a good idea to weigh the pros and cons, do your research and seek legal advice. Different franchisors may offer radically different terms and conditions, so it pays to comparison shop.

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Tips for Managing a Business

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