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Are lawyers rich Always? No. Can Lawyers Get Rich? Yes.
In this article I generally talk a little bit about how lawyers and which lawyers have a better chance of making plenty of money and get rich. And list of insanely rich lawyers I will put as a separate article on this blog. You can see my other article with random list of 37 richest lawyers in USA.
Most lawyers are not rich, and they make middle-class income. But a certain percentage of lawyers are extremely successful and became multimillionaires by practicing law or venturing into business. Generally, while not the rule, a lawyer can become rich, although, it is not guaranteed.
Some lawyers are rich, and career of a lawyer can help to become rich. Not every lawyer will get rich, but there are some insanely rich lawyers. I had a chance to work with quite successful and rich lawyers-multimillionaires. Let’s specifically discuss rich lawyers in this article, and how they get so rich.
Which lawyers are rich and how some of them are making millions of dollars? How it is possible to make millions as a lawyer? And how to become rich as a lawyer? These are legitimate questions to ask by inspiring future law students.
For purposes of this blog post rich means at least a few million dollars in an account. But usually, lawyers take the money made through the practice of law and put that in property and then spent or invest wisely.
How do lawyers make millions and get rich?
While working for successful and rich lawyers I had a chance to observe here and there how they made millions as lawyers. One common trait among them was that they usually were leading their own law firms as partners and were astute entrepreneurs in practicing law. They viewed the law as a business rather than a job.
They looked at how they can serve a maximum number of paying clients in the most efficient way. All of them partially automated and standardized their business, essentially providing similar or analogous services to multiple clients. A famous example is LegalZoom, where I worked as a temp.
If you ask are lawyers rich – yes, you can find plenty of truly rich lawyers. Some law lawyers make millions of dollars per year. But to become rich as a lawyer they would have to jump all the necessary hoops, from going to law school, gaining experience at a good law firm, and opening their own legal business.
So, yes, you can go to law school and make millions of dollars. Before we discuss rich lawyers let’s quickly cover the topic of how school rank or school tiers help lawyers make plenty of money in subsequent career. Let’s see how it affects a lawyer’s ability to become a millionaire.
Lawyers from Top Law Schools Can Become Rich Faster
Law school rank helps to start a legal career on a higher level and with higher pay. Young lawyers from top law schools can easily make six figures right after passing the bar exam. They usually work for big law firms which have big net worth clients.
These lawyers have insanely difficult work schedules, but in the first 3-5 years they can repay student debt and even save some solid money. Such young lawyers form top law schools could gross a million dollars in their first 6-8 years of work. But often in 3-5 years they leave the large firm to start working elsewhere.
Sometimes they work for other law firms, open their firms, or leave the law profession to go into business or media.
Still, those young lawyers from top law schools can make millions of dollars as lawyers with their law firms. Because they have very good credentials after graduating from top law school and working in a top law firm brings good salary. The network obtained in top law school is also important.
Going to top law school is probably the fastest path for a lawyer to become a millionaire and get rich.
I knew a very successful bankruptcy attorney who was making millions each year in legal fees. He represented large creditors in business bankruptcies how could afford large fees.
Previously he went to one of the top law schools and worked in a top law firm before branching out on his own. His top experience helped him with obtaining helpful credentials and connections.
Can a Lawyer from a lower-ranked school become rich?
I have met a few rich lawyers who made millions without attending top law school. They were entrepreneurial and made the best effort to learn as much as possible and grow their careers and law business. That includes some of my former classmates.
Such lawyers became rich millionaires because they were very active, made friends and connections, obtained their regular clients and served them well. They established a good reputation and worked very hard and smart. I worked for one such lawyer millionaire who went to a low-ranking law school. He did criminal law and civil litigation.
The ability to network, obtain and retain clients is the key there. I have law school acquaintances who opened their law firms solo or with other attorneys right after passing the bar exam. They advertised like hell and at least a few of them now have established a very solid law practice.
A couple of those lawyers are most definitely millionaires. They will get even richer as their career and businesses grow.
But best way is to work for experienced lawyer first and learn the job before branching out.
In summary, lawyers can lawyers get rich and become millionaires even if they went to lower-ranking schools. But it is easier for a lawyer to become a millionaire in law practice after higher-ranked law school.
Clients are willing to pay a premium because they assume that someone who went to Stanford or Columbia school of law is more competent than someone who went to lower ranking institution.
How rich are rich lawyers? (Examples of Rich Lawyers)
I will give few more examples of very rich lawyers. For example, Judge Judy is essentially a lawyer who became a judge. In her courtroom television series, she made over $400 million. She is a very rich lawyer millionaire.
Some other lawyer celebrities who ventured into media also sometimes hit a jackpot and make those millions and become rich thanks to media. But I will stick to lawyers who made millions and became rich strictly as lawyers.
I mentioned LegalZoom. One of its founders is rich lawyer Robert Shapiro – a criminal lawyer who excelled at marketing himself. He defended O.J. Simpson, for example. I am sure he made millions as lawyer thanks to his self-made marketing and recognized fame. He is a self-made lawyer who made over 50 million dollars or more.
Willie Gary is also a lawyer who got rich and made millions through legal work. Once he won a large half a billion-dollar case for a client and got paid hefty lawyer fees. He is worth more than 100 million dollars. Yes, both lawyers are successful black American lawyers.
Another one is entertainment and corporate lawyer John Branco with 50 million dollars net worth. Also, Joe Jamail, who represented oil companies and allegedly was worth over 1 billion dollars due to settlements. Richard Scruggs, who won many cases and amassed over 1 billion dollars in legal fees.
How Do Lawyers Make Millions?
I must note that many lawyers who made millions upon millions and got super rich often made lots of money on the side and not as lawyers. As you saw earlier, that could be media and television work, serving as CEO of the company, authoring books, and so on.
They also probably invest their money wisely. But many “regular” millionaire lawyers made their money through legal work.
A lawyer who is also a shrewd businessperson can make millions and become rich in any area of law. Some areas are more prone to make lawyers rich than others.
For example, civil litigation is one such area. Trial lawyers can become rich from making millions in contingency legal fees when they win large-stake litigation cases.
Especially lucrative are class-action lawsuits. The amounts to win by plaintiffs (those who file a lawsuit) in class action lawsuits could be tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. Such luck and smart lawyers can also earn even ten million or more as their legal fees.
They take anywhere from 25% to 40% of the amount they win for clients. If they win one billion dollars, they get a cut of $250 to $400 million and then distribute among themselves.
Then they usually split it among participating lawyers and pay off many experts and so on. There are major expenses in such litigations which are paid by lawyers regardless of whether they win or not. Note, such lawyers must finance lawsuit from their own funds until either victory or loss.
How Do Lawyers Get Rich And How Do Lawyers Become Millionaires?
Cam lawyers make millions and become millionaires? Absolutely. But how can a lawyer become a millionaire is a different and not so simple process. Are most lawyers rich? No. Most lawyers never get there because they lack excitement in what they do.
Those who like practicing law usually have a better chance of making millions and getting richer as a lawyer.
So, how to make millions as a lawyer and get rich as one? Here is what I noticed from observing my millionaire lawyer bosses.
Lawyers Get Rich Through Successful Law Practice.
So, how do lawyers get rich by practicing law? Most lawyers who got rich started making good money through legal work.
Most lawyers start either as associates or then rise into partnership ranks. Or they open their law firm from the start. Path to partnership is harder in existing law firm then if lawyer opens own law firm.
Partners in successful law firms usually make most of the money, as they are shareholders of the legal business. They share most of the profit, and they make all big decisions collectively and share losses and expenses.
Partners in large Big Law firms can charge anywhere from $500 to several thousand dollars per hour. Big Law usually includes top 100 law firms in the US. Large law firms have many associate (non-partners) attorneys who are workhorses. The bill many hours of legal work without sharing profits.
Usually, they are required to bill 1800-2000 hours per year. That’s a lot. Because much of the hours are preparatory or administrative and cannot be billed to clients. Therefore, young associates rarely make millions even in big law firms.
A partnership is a primary way for a lawyer to get rich and become a millionaire. But it is extremely hard to become a partner in a large firm.
Partners in smaller law firms make various incomes. It depends on how successful they are in business marketing promoting their business. And local market plays a major role. Big city small law firms usually make more money.
What Successful Lawyer Makes
For example, average successful lawyers can charge anywhere from $120 to $350 per hour once they get sufficient legal work experience. Usually, it takes a decade or so of legal work to get there but not always.
So, they hire younger law associates, pay them a percentage of hourly fees. With a large volume of work that difference can make a lawyer a multi-millionaire in 5-10 years.
I have read an article about a criminal lawyer who was so good at mingling in the community and advertising. He opened his own law office right after the bar exam. And he was making more than $200 000 dollars per year in his fourth year of solo practice.
Many lawyers charging flat fees for a specific work which is usually known to take a certain amount of time.
For example, lawyers registering a corporation or LLC (a company) usually charge a flat fee of $500-$5000 or more. Depending on how it is complicated. Well-defined services like selling a house, and so on are usually charged on basis of a flat fee.
Some lawyers charge monthly membership fees for their clients. I know about small business lawyer who charged more than a thousand dollars monthly fee for each business client.
He maintained their legal issues to makes sure things do not get wrong. He was making anywhere from $700 thousand to a million dollars per year in gross earnings from his home office. Do not forget that law firms have large expenses too.
Foreclosure law firms, for example, charge clients $400 to $800 dollars or more each month they can delay foreclosure. Sometimes they keep people in their homes for 2-5 years and get paid every month.
Litigation is usually unpredictable and civil litigation lawyers charge either hourly or based on outcome (contingency fee).
And I already mentioned that the richest attorneys are those who do high-level mass litigation against large companies. Those lawyers can become millionaires just after one winning large-scale case.
Lawyers Make Millions Through Wise Investments
After making decent or good money in law practice smart lawyers do not waste them. I have seen lawyers investing in various investment vehicles.
Many lawyers had IRA account and money in that account is invested in stocks, mutual, or index funds. This is the most basic way and passive way to invest money.
Other lawyers, I knew investing in real estate either solo or with partners. Some bought properties on foreclosures, some bought regular rental properties. Others invested in REITs. There are many ways to invest in real estate.
I have heard of them also investing in precious metals such as gold. There are other ways to invest, but that is whole another topic.
Lawyers Go Into Business to Make Millions
Sometimes lawyers go into business with ex-clients or with new partners. Or, even solo. I have seen lawyers purchasing or opening service businesses. Some lawyers succeed and get rich in business, some do not.
The safer way for a lawyer to make millions in business is to become a top manager in a large existing business and get profit-sharing. They are hired if they bring solid legal expertise with them.
Lawyers can either start working in-house (in a legal department of the business company) and rise through the corporate ranks.
Lawyers Make Business Deals That Make Millions
I mentioned how lawyers can make business or media deals and essentially get rich with that. Previously, lawyers would write a book or get a radio show. Or even show on TV.
But now with online media, this process may be even easier. Lawyers can become media persons and make money by either being show hosts, podcasters, and so on.
Harvey Robert is a former lawyer, then TV lawyer-reporter. Then he founded TMZ – a popular celebrity reporting show. I am pretty sure he is a multi-millionaire.
Conclusion
Many lawyers are not rich, although lawyers can get rich and make millions. Law is really like a business. Some lawyers succeed immensely, and many do not.
It is hard to be a lawyer. It is much harder to become a rich lawyer and make millions of dollars. Technology and automation help.
The best people who can tell how to become a rich lawyer are rich lawyers themselves. But I doubt they will ever tell the whole truth.
Again, here is a random list of 37 richest lawyers in the USA.
