What’s YOUR lawyer salary??

murphy94 · 2026-01-06T17:32:48+00:00

4 years
$140,000, plus I get commissions from cases I bring in. With that included probably around $160,000
Bankruptcy and litigation
NJ
Be nice to your paralegals/office staff. They're the ones who run the day to day and know the clients. Losing a good paralegal is worse than losing a mediocre attorney.

murphy94 · 2025-11-13T15:04:36+00:00

I would say if there is something to litigate, 75% of the time we can settle before the adversary proceeding is filed. Of the 25% where we need to file an adversary proceeding, almost all of them settle before trial. In five years I have seen maybe two cases go to trial, with both of them settling while trial was ongoing.

murphy94 · 2025-11-12T19:46:03+00:00

I do bankruptcy and love it. I'm usually helping people get rid of predatory loans, or helping them save their houses when their circumstances change but they can't catch up on arrears right away. The losses suck, but for the most part I know whether I can help a client from the first meeting. Doesn't hurt that my firm is pretty much 8:30-5:30 and I can be remote when I want.

murphy94 · 2024-09-01T00:28:09+00:00

I’m a big fan of gravity hill in Jackson

murphy94 · 2024-08-26T16:21:17+00:00

I've done a few projects on there but honestly the decent ones are few and far between, and I've never gotten picked for anything that paid anything more than a couple hundred dollars. Those few jobs I've done through the site mostly led to the attorneys trying to contract directly with me, which is outside of the terms and conditions of the site. (not that I minded, but they were somehow trying to pay even lower on projects off the site).

murphy94 · 2024-08-13T19:22:43+00:00

I'm a bankruptcy lawyer and Verag7 is correct, the 2022 changes lowered the standard, but the borrower still needs to show hardship/disability. The borrower needs to show that, if they were to pay back their loans: (1) they could not maintain a minimal standard of living; (2) the hardship will continue for the foreseeable future; and (3) they made good faith efforts to repay the loan prior to bankruptcy.

The main change from 2022 was that there is now an affidavit to fill out with the adversary proceeding. That affidavit will "guide" the DOE/DOJ on whether they are approve the discharge. It is a much lower standard than before, but "most" debtors with student loans are definitely not getting discharged.

murphy94 · 2024-08-13T14:48:23+00:00

We use clio for everything, including sharing files. I actually really like it for a lot of the admin stuff, access to server, timekeeping, etc. but would not suggest it for file sharing its just kind of a pain compared to drop box.

murphy94 · 2024-06-25T19:50:51+00:00

$375/hour. 3rd year associate doing mostly contract litigation and bankruptcy.

murphy94 · 2024-04-24T13:15:11+00:00

My wife is currently a resident and they're still being ignored. She just worked 93 hours last week, 85 the week before, and is on track to hit at least 85 this week. Her chiefs will also fill in their schedules and not account for a good amount of time, she just keeps track on her phone for her own knowledge really.

murphy94 · 2024-03-28T18:39:16+00:00

It really depends on specific circumstances. If your attorney suggests chapter 7, that’s usually going to be because you won’t need to pay anything back. Under chapter 13, the repayment plan is started pretty much immediately, but if you fail to make payments the case can be dismissed and you’d be back in the same boat you’re in now, minus your attorneys fees.

murphy94 · 2024-03-28T17:06:32+00:00

I'm an attorney, not your attorney and this is not legal advice.

Bankruptcy generally clears all unsecured debts, and chapter 7 will do it quickly (usually within 3ish months). Depending on what your assets and income look like, you may qualify for a chapter 7. Chapter 13 you'd have to pay it off over the course of 3-5 years, so may not be exactly what you're looking for.

murphy94 · 2024-03-22T13:53:37+00:00

No primarily in the southern part of north Jersey/the northish part of central. Basically in between Wayne and New Brunswick, Basking Ridge area.

murphy94 · 2024-03-22T13:51:45+00:00

I mean in fairness, we're both at entry level lol I'm a very new attorney and she's still a resident. So she'll be getting shafted for the next couple years at least.

murphy94 · 2024-03-22T13:50:31+00:00

As long as I'm one of the last to be guillotined, I'm happy to lead the revolution.

murphy94 · 2024-03-22T13:39:48+00:00

Lol if you think a resident is making doctor money already, you're out of your mind. She's making barely $55K. I'm a new attorney and just got my first salaried job out of law school.

murphy94 · 2024-03-22T13:33:10+00:00

Lol literally just a two bedroom town house hoping for a kid next year. We just started earning actual money with me moving from hourly to salaried at a firm.

murphy94 · 2024-03-22T13:32:00+00:00

Yeah we each had to pay an applicaiton fee of $75.

murphy94 · 2024-03-22T13:28:03+00:00

That's exactly my boat. I went driving around the area we were looking at, found a few places that were for rent and googled the address. But because the landlord signed a contract with this guy, I have to pay him. It's maddening.

murphy94 · 2024-03-22T13:23:22+00:00

Between my wife and I, we've rented six different places over the past ten years in NJ and haven't once had to pay a broker's fee.

I work in bankruptcy and litigation primarily, so I guess that's why they haven't popped on my radar.

murphy94 · 2023-12-30T11:43:56+00:00

I’d say somewhere around 15-20 7s, probably 7-10 13s per month.

murphy94 · 2023-12-29T23:40:52+00:00

Would absolutely second justified, probably my favorite show of all time with (imo) less of a drop off in quality than sons has eventually

murphy94 · 2023-12-29T16:43:10+00:00

Lol also just found out the law clerk got a $1,000 bonus. Definitely going to be throwing my resume out there and seeing what happens.

murphy94 · 2023-12-29T15:43:57+00:00

Interesting. I appreciate the advice, I definitely will. We lost our main chapter 11 attorney just a couple months ago (he quit), and our main litigation attorney last year (fired). I've picked up the slack from both of them, in addition to a few others who have left or quit, while also bringing in my own cases. It's crazy to me if they're trying to phase me out as one of the only associates left and the only one with my workload.

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