Litigation Associate Salary

Q: How much does a Litigation Associate make?

Litigation associates make $120,953 per year on average, or $58.15 per hour, in the United States. Litigation associates on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $68,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $212,000. Location impacts how much a litigation associate can expect to make. Litigation associates make the most in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Virginia, and California.

Updated July 11, 2022

Average Litigation Associate Salary

$120,953 yearly
To create our salary estimates, Zippia starts with data published in publicly available sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Foreign Labor Certification Data Center (FLC) Show More

$58.15 hourly

Entry level Salary

$68,000 yearly

$68,000

10 %

$120,953

Median

$212,000

90 %

How much does a Litigation Associate make?

Litigation associates make $120,953 per year on average, or $58.15 per hour, in the United States. Litigation associates on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $68,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $212,000.

Location impacts how much a litigation associate can expect to make. Litigation associates make the most in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Virginia, and California.

Highest Paying States For Litigation Associates

The darker areas on the map show where litigation associates earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Litigation Associate average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	New York	$136,999	$65.86	299
2	District of Columbia	$130,938	$62.95	170
3	New Jersey	$117,883	$56.67	72
4	Virginia	$119,253	$57.33	77
5	Massachusetts	$114,117	$54.86	120
6	Illinois	$113,828	$54.73	106
7	Connecticut	$129,812	$62.41	19
8	California	$118,979	$57.20	506
9	North Dakota	$117,041	$56.27	6
10	New Hampshire	$120,977	$58.16	7
11	Colorado	$109,269	$52.53	50
12	Maine	$114,926	$55.25	8
13	Michigan	$102,525	$49.29	62
14	Minnesota	$100,353	$48.25	73
15	Washington	$99,955	$48.06	81
16	North Carolina	$103,866	$49.94	56
17	Vermont	$116,602	$56.06	1
18	Oregon	$97,695	$46.97	31
19	Rhode Island	$96,414	$46.35	9
20	Texas	$89,232	$42.90	281
21	Maryland	$102,068	$49.07	40
22	Arizona	$93,368	$44.89	46
23	Utah	$100,501	$48.32	10
24	New Mexico	$93,321	$44.87	13
25	Delaware	$95,774	$46.05	9
26	Mississippi	$95,785	$46.05	7
27	Pennsylvania	$91,077	$43.79	72
28	Nevada	$93,057	$44.74	8
29	Georgia	$85,451	$41.08	87
30	Florida	$82,593	$39.71	334
31	Nebraska	$82,458	$39.64	19
32	South Dakota	$90,633	$43.57	1
33	Wisconsin	$83,394	$40.09	37
34	West Virginia	$88,173	$42.39	3
35	Montana	$79,590	$38.26	20
36	Alaska	$89,347	$42.96	4
37	Tennessee	$82,312	$39.57	32
38	Wyoming	$69,181	$33.26	23
39	Indiana	$78,798	$37.88	42
40	Iowa	$81,300	$39.09	13
41	Kentucky	$80,379	$38.64	15
42	Louisiana	$78,052	$37.52	21
43	Ohio	$79,148	$38.05	53
44	Missouri	$71,217	$34.24	49
45	Alabama	$80,074	$38.50	13
46	Idaho	$76,213	$36.64	9
47	South Carolina	$64,889	$31.20	33
48	Oklahoma	$75,189	$36.15	11
49	Kansas	$73,664	$35.42	11
50	Hawaii	$65,907	$31.69	2
51	Arkansas	$61,068	$29.36	13

Highest Paying Cities For Litigation Associates

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	New York, NY	$142,424	$68.47
2	Washington, DC	$133,944	$64.40
3	Enfield, CT	$132,600	$63.75
4	San Francisco, CA	$131,607	$63.27
5	Reston, VA	$128,422	$61.74
6	Hackensack, NJ	$120,059	$57.72
7	Chicago, IL	$116,081	$55.81
8	Boston, MA	$116,060	$55.80
9	Denver, CO	$109,603	$52.69
10	Towson, MD	$103,435	$49.73
11	Charlotte, NC	$101,551	$48.82
12	Seattle, WA	$101,306	$48.70
13	Salt Lake City, UT	$100,244	$48.19
14	Portland, OR	$97,048	$46.66
15	Philadelphia, PA	$91,207	$43.85

Litigation Associate Salary Details

What is a Litigation Associate's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$212,000	$17,667	$102
75th Percentile	$162,000	$13,500	$78
Average	$120,953	$10,079	$58
25th Percentile	$89,000	$7,417	$43
10th Percentile	$68,000	$5,667	$33

Average Salary By Related Titles

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Document Review Attorney	$84,725	$7,060	$40.73	9,393
Lawyer	$118,390	$9,866	$56.92	2,897
Law Clerk	$50,511	$4,209	$24.28	75,014
General Counsel	$122,795	$10,233	$59.04	50,275
Housing Counselor	$97,941	$8,162	$47.09	33,639
Contract Attorney	$88,179	$7,348	$42.39	13,592

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Litigation Associates The Most?

The highest paying companies for litigation associates are Shearman & Sterling and Foley Hoag according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Goodwin and K&L; Gates report highly competitive wages for litigation associates.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Shearman & Sterling	$240,677	$115.71	14
2	Foley Hoag	$231,905	$111.49
3	Goodwin	$230,676	$110.90	22
4	K&L Gates	$223,256	$107.33
5	Dorsey & Whitney	$221,107	$106.30	1
6	McDermott Will & Emery	$220,659	$106.09
7	Ropes & Gray	$219,527	$105.54	2
8	Alston & Bird	$218,463	$105.03	4
9	Cahill Gordon & Reindel	$215,497	$103.60
10	Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough	$213,838	$102.81	41
11	Fenwick & West	$207,576	$99.80	13
12	Covington & Burling	$204,570	$98.35
13	Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf	$201,853	$97.04
14	Greenberg Traurig	$201,615	$96.93
15	Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith	$201,596	$96.92	32
16	Perkins Coie	$200,482	$96.39
17	DLA Piper	$199,299	$95.82	164
18	Crowell & Moring	$198,592	$95.48	6
19	WLRK	$197,946	$95.17	2
20	Sidley Austin	$190,001	$91.35	4

Litigation Associate Salary Trends

The salary for a litigation associate can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Litigation Associate Salary By Experience Level

Experience Level	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
Entry Level	$70,200	$33.75
Mid Level	$84,700	$40.73
Senior Level	$178,000	$85.42

Average Litigation Associate Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Litigation Associate Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2022	$121,000	$58.15	+3.1%
2021	$117,000	$56.33	+1.7%
2020	$115,000	$55.39	+1.4%
2019	$114,000	$54.63	+0.9%
2018	$113,000	$54.13	+2.0%

Recently Added Litigation Associate Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Alchemy Legal	Commercial Litigation Associate Attorney Years): Salt Lake City	Salt Lake City, UT	05/31/2022	$165,000
Pridestaff	Coverage/Litigation Associate Attorney	Atlanta, GA	05/30/2022	$85,000
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP	Defense Litigation Associate Attorney	Stamford, CT	05/29/2022	$120,000
Property Claims Litigation Group LLC	Litigation Associate Attorney	Atlanta, GA	05/20/2022	$75,000
CNY Outsourcing	Attorney Litigation Associate-Rochester, NY Area	Rochester, NY	05/19/2022	$70,000
The Spiggle Law Firm	Litigation Associate Attorney	Alexandria, VA	05/18/2022	$80,000
Alchemy Legal	Litigation Associate Attorney-Fort	Fort Lauderdale, FL	05/15/2022	$120,000
Dorsey & Whitney LLP	Intellectual Property Litigation Associate (#716)	Minneapolis, MN	05/13/2022	$180,000
Dorsey & Whitney LLP	Intellectual Property Litigation Associate (#716)	Denver, CO	05/13/2022	$180,000
Rohan Law, PC	Civil Litigation Associate	Atlanta, GA	05/11/2022	$100,000

Litigation Associate Salaries FAQs

What state pays Litigation Associates the most?

New York pays Litigation Associates the most in the United States, with an average salary of $136,999 per year, or $65.86 per hour.

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Litigation Associate?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Litigation Associate if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in District of Columbia you should be paid close to $130,938 per year.

What type of Litigation Associate gets paid the most?

Associate General Counsel gets paid the most. Associate General Counsel made a median salary of $138,691. The best-paid 10 percent make $173,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $110,000.

Have more questions? See all answers to common legal questions.

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