Hey
Countertop here.  I used to blog quite regularly over at the Countertop Chronicles, but life seems to get in the way, and my blog posts are pretty sporadic these days. In any case, Sebastian and Bitter asked me to chime in here with some words of wisdom and I thought I’d honor that. Been traveling a lot my self, which is why its taking me so long to post anything.
But I have a couple of posts I’d like to do over the next few days while they complete their exotic and romantic trip to the “birthplace” of our president. Who, as a resident of the DC area, I just love.
And of course, if you ever needed a reason to hate that bitter soul anymore, his destruction of the US economy (and my associated love of his actions) should really open your eyes.
You see, as a lawyer/lobbyist working for a trade association in DC Obama has been VERY good to me.  I’m not going to get into my specific situation, but I wanted to share with you some salary survey data from the American Society of Association Executives (along with the League of Lobbyists, one of the two major DC lobbyists lobby groups – yes, even us lobbyists have lobbyists. Are you surprised???)
If any of you know any lawyers, or read Above The Law (or even Instapundit or the Volokh Conspiracy), let these numbers, pertaining to the legal head of organizations sink in for a moment (i can’t link to them because they aren’t publicly available on the web. For a not insignificant fee, you can purchase their salary books. Your employers HR department probably has copies of it – thats one of the tools they use in negotiating salary).
For all organizations in the US, the average base salary in 2008 was $165,306 but in 2010 – after 2 years of recession/depression that average salary has dropped to $159,631 a decrease of nearly $6,000 a year. But average’s are skewed by high salary’s, so looking at the median, you see the situation – nationwide – is even worse with median salary dropping from $155,400 in 2008 to $140,137 in 2010 or about $15,000.
Now, as an aside, to the average American making $65k a year, these probably seem like insanely high salaries and warrant little tear shedding. But put it in this perspective, considering the legal profession overall. These are the salary’s for folks who have a long and successful legal history, basically in house attorney’s who have practiced for 15+ years.  The average Above The Law reader – going to a big law firm – would SKOFF at these. Those fools (and I say that with the understanding that 99% will be unemployed, divorced, and with a miserable life within 8-9 years) who take jobs at BIG Law firms are looking at making somewhere between $165-$185 a year WITH NO LEGAL EXPERIENCE AT ALL. Andrew Sullivan’s under blogger was looking into the insanity of this system just a few weeks ago.In my experience, it was only inevitable that the people hiring law firms would eventually stop paying for these overpriced goons.
But, that’s an aside, lets get back to the reason I am loving Obama these days. When you start to look at the same numbers, but focus only on how well the “folks” in Washington, D.C. are doing, the divide between the Haves and Have Nots is shockingly clear for all to see.
2008 Average Salary: $202,875
2010 Average Salary: $217,925Â an increase of $15,000 a year
2008 Median Salary: $187,319
2010 Median Salary: $210,000 an increase of $23,000 a year
Now, its true that that salary base in DC has generally been higher than the rest of the country (though not as high as Chicago or New York) but I find it hard to believe the gap has EVER been this high. While the median salary of a Chief Legal Officer around the country has dropped $15,000 the median salary in DC has actually seen an increase of $23,000 a year – an annual projected earning divide of $38,000.
That’s real money, no matter who you are and the reason this DC based attorney is THRILLED to be in DC and not Cleveland or Detroit or Kansas City or L.A. or anywhere else (even though we producer nothing of real value in DC).
I read this, and for the life of me I can’t figure out what you’re trying to say. It just seems like incoherent rambling. I know there must be some valuable nugget in there somewhere, but could you please tell me what it is?
Yes.
That in the two years since Obama has taken office and the recession has dragged on – the median salary of a certain class of lawyers has dropped tremendously ($15,000 a year) across the country, while in DC it has seen an incredible increase ($23,000 a year) that’s out of whack with what has happened to the legal profession anywhere else in the country.
Also, that while the earning gap has always existed between lawyers in DC, Chicago, and NY and the rest of the country, during Obama’s short tenure in Office that gap has exploded – $38,000 a year more than it already was (or over 27% more than the base salary of workers outside of DC) so that the actual gap in median salary is now $69,833 vs $31,900 in 2008 for no other reason than one attorney works in DC as opposed to anywhere else in the country.
Thanks for the summary. But what’s the cause. Is it Obama’s magical lawyer salary-increasing ability, or is there something else going on?
Sorry it took so long to get back to you – just got (well saw) the email that you commented now.
For the most part, this is part and parcel of what we’ve seen elsewhere in this country. Businesses are afraid to hire. The Obama Administration – in all sorts of shadowy ways – has launched an unprecedented attack on the US economy. From secret law suit settlements with environmentalists at EPA (the impact to the economy from forthcoming clean water act rules will equal – and may surpass – what the climate change legislation would do. . . . and no one knows about it) to changes in workplace and labor relation rules and an unprecedented intrusion into the right to contract, its rather remarkable.
So, if your a business with any money, rather than invest it in workers or new technology – your best bet is to hire DC lawyers who might at least have a chance to work the system and ensure that you are still in business when these crooks leave town.
Hiring new line workers, or adopting new technologies, won’t do it. Only sheer insider DC trading – and litigation – will work at this point.