However, Law Partners At Top Firms Now Make 23 Times What Average U.S. Worker Makes, Up From 11 Times From 25 Years Ago.
In her October 15, 2012 post at the ABA Law Journal, Debra Cassens Weiss indicates that Bruce MacEwen believes that U.S. law firms are offering cut-rate fees to clients to keep their attorneys occupied and cover fixed costs. He also observed that, 25 years ago, average partner pay at the nation’s top firms was 11 times higher than the average U.S. worker, but that now has spiked to 23 times higher now.
We note that the increase in income equality noted by the ABA Law Journal article is simply one example of a general trend in income distribution: “A 2011 study by the CBO] found that the top earning 1 percent of households gained about 275% after federal taxes and income transfers over a period between 1979 and 2007, compared to a gain of just under 40% for the 60 percent in the middle of America’s the income distribution.” See the Wikipedia article on “Income inequality in the United States.”