New Paralegal Salary Survey

Incisive Legal Intelligence, in partnership with the International Paralegal Management Association (IPMA), released their 2009 Compensation Survey for Paralegals/Legal Assistants and Managers, tracking compensation, billing rates and billable hours for paralegals. More than 250 organizations participated in the survey (180 law firms and 72 law departments), representing a total of 10,613 paralegal positions.

Survey results showed:

• Decreases in paralegal billable hours and overtime, but small increases in base salary for the survey period.
• The overall compensation of paralegals in U.S. law firms and corporate law departments decreased slightly when compared to last year’s survey data.
• Paralegals working in law firms received somewhat higher base compensation increases than their law department peers.
• Within law firms, the highest paid paralegals continued to be litigation support/technology managers at a median annual base compensation of $121,012 nationally.
• The average billing rate for most paralegals positions exceeded $175 per hour.

These survey results contrast slightly with Legal Assistant Today's 2009 Salary Survey which found a small increase in average law firm and corporate salaries compared to last year. That survey reported average law firm paralegal salaries at $53,937, corporate salaries at $62,336 and government salaries at $56,615.