OSB 1998 Economic Survey

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Compensation

Annual compensation data was collected for the year ended December 31, 1997. In addition to overall data, tables are presented for compensation by full-time and part-time, gender, age, years admitted to practice in Oregon, total years admitted to practice, type of employment, area of private practice, size of practice, level of employment, and method of pay.

Caution should be exercised in reviewing the compensation tables. Unless otherwise indicated, compensation data is for all respondents including both full-time and part-time lawyers. Many factors may influence a specific compensation number such as, level of employment, years admitted to practice, size of practice, type of employment, and gender. The factor that was most predictive of salary, for full-time attorneys, was total years admitted to practice. The next two factors that were most predictive were size of practice and whether the attorney was in private practice. Also, the particular mix of respondents may impact the average and median computations. This is most pronounced when the number of respondents is small. In order to provide more detail, data was broken down among the seven regions of the state. Additionally, categories were created for items such as years admitted to practice, type of employment, area of private practice, and size of practice. These tables contain up to 12 separate categories. In the regions with fewer attorneys and thus fewer respondents, the number of respondents in a particular category for a specific region may necessarily be small.

Overall : Overall compensation for 1997 for all respondents is presented in the following table including, 25th percentile (25% of the respondents had compensation below this point and 75% above), 50th percentile or median (50% below and 50% above), 75th percentile (75% below and 25% above), and the average. Compensation data for Portland was consistently higher than the other regions. Overall, the median compensation for Oregon attorneys in 1997 was $63,090 compared to the 1993 median income of $58,000 in the 1994 survey. The average compensation in 1997 was $83,805 compared to the 1993 figure of $73,630. The average was higher than the median due to the wide range of reported compensation data (34% of the respondents reported compensation greater than the average of $83,805).

1997 Compensation Overall
Overall	Oregon	Portland	Tri- County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
25th Percentile	41000	51000	33950	40000	35000	36000	36000	40000
50th Percentile (Median)	63090	80000	54200	55000	60000	56000	54500	58000
75th Percentile	100000	132000	79250	75000	100000	79000	82750	85000
Average	83805	108198	68952	63319	76733	69189	62589	65787

Full-Time and Part-Time : Because the various compensation tables presented in this report may be influenced by the mix of full-time versus part-time respondents, additional analyses were performed and are presented in the following table. The data includes average and median compensation for 1997 for full-time and part-time attorneys broken down by gender, age, total years admitted to practice, type of employment, area of private practice, and size of practice. This table should be reviewed in conjunction with the various other compensation tables.

1997 Compensation by Full-Time and Part-Time
Selected Variables	Full-Time		Part-Time
Gender	Average	Median	Average	Median
Male	98851	75600	44428	32000
Female	60854	50000	41323	30825
Age	Average	Median	Average	Median
Under 30	38391	37000	13343	10000
30-39	63365	54000	32185	29377
40-49	95859	75000	42503	35000
50-59	120434	85800	58846	50000
60 or Over	112680	90160	49077	28813
Total Years Admitted to Practice	Average	Median	Average	Median
0-3 Years	38717	36000	16737	10000
4-6 Years	51438	48000	22899	20000
7-9 Years	60398	54000	26794	29377
10-12 Years	80920	70000	38112	30000
13-15 Years	86524	72000	44479	42700
16-20 Years	100758	80000	51928	40000
21-30 Years	121598	90000	59404	45000
Over 30 Years	142304	100750	48535	30204
Type of Employment	Average	Median	Average	Median
Private	98066	74500	42842	30000
Private Non-Profit	44152	40500	21799	21000
Government	60073	59000	46239	50000
Corporate In-House Counsel	97648	76000	78800	57500
Judge/Hearings Officer	77396	83376	23406	16750
Area of Private Practice	Average	Median	Average	Median
Bankruptcy	100977	72944	66000	36000
Business/Corporate	119630	90000	56420	33000
Civil Litigation, Defendant	106445	82500	48900	55000
Civil Litigation, Plaintiff	103648	74500	60809	35000
Criminal	64380	52213	28313	34000
Environmental Law	108483	79540	n/a	n/a
Family Law	68203	54000	28726	21000
Real Estate/Land Use	119273	87000	52753	40000
Tax/Estate Planning	99034	77150	48227	35000
Workers’ Compensation	117817	80000	23667	20000
General (no area over 50%)	78063	60000	27617	19000
Other	118349	92000	46236	26877
Size of Practice	Average	Median	Average	Median
1 Lawyer Office	77285	60000	30656	23276
2-6 Lawyer Office	80821	64000	45994	38000
7-20 Lawyer Office	91346	65000	55029	45000
21-60 Lawyer Office	106320	75000	82359	63800
Over 60 Lawyer Office	115028	75000	75409	46000

Gender : Compensation by gender is presented in the following table. Overall, the average compensation for males was $94,311 and $57,192 for females compared to 1994 data of $81,231 for males and $48,685 for females. The median compensation was $72,000 for males and $48,000 for females compared to 1994 data of $62,000 for males and $41,300 for females. Differences exist between male and female compensation throughout all regions of the state. Factors influencing this include percentage of part-time attorneys and the number of years admitted to practice. Seventeen percent of females reported working part time while only 8% of males reported part-time work.

Another difference by gender is the number of years admitted to practice. Males reported an average number of years admitted to practice of 18.7 years (median 19.0) and females reported an average of 11.0 years (median 9.0). Females reported 18% in the 0 to 3 years admitted to practice category, while males reported only 9%. Fifty-one percent of females have been admitted to practice less than 10 years, while this number for males was only 25%. By contrast, 43% of males have been admitted for over 20 years, while only 11% of females have.

1997 Compensation by Gender
Gender		Oregon	Portland	Tri- County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
Male	Average	94311	120707	78113	71104	86575	76466	68431	75566
	Median	72000	96000	60000	63317	75150	60000	61000	65000
Female	Average	57192	73753	50148	47460	46639	47099	46398	34616
	Median	48000	56667	43000	47600	42100	41500	40000	33000

The two most important factors that are predictive of compensation for full-time attorneys are total years admitted to practice and size of practice. Fifty-six percent of females working full time were in the first three categories of total years admitted to practice. Also, 56% of females were in the 2-6 lawyer office and 7-20 lawyer office categories of size of practice. Additional analyses were performed regarding full-time attorneys by gender for the above categories of total years admitted to practice and size of practice. The following table presents this data. The number of attorneys reporting in the following 12 categories ranged from 18 to 39 attorneys.

1997 Compensation by Gender - Full-Time Attorneys
Size of Practice	Gender	Total Years Admitted to Practice
		0 to 3 Years		4 to 6 Years		7 to 9 Years
		Average	Median	Average	Median	Average	Median
2 to 6 Lawyer Office	Male	36559	36146	49619	45000	63415	55000
	Female	31871	30000	44539	41500	56229	49500
7 to 20 Lawyer Office	Male	43276	35000	56012	50000	66378	57000
	Female	37640	38000	41359	41500	50856	51500

Age : Compensation data by five age categories is presented in the following table. Both the average and median overall compensation figures increase from the under 30 years category until the 50 to 59 years category and then decline in the 60 or over years category. This was consistent with the data reported in the 1994 survey.

1997 Compensation by Age
Age Category		Oregon	Portland	Tri- County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
Under 30	Average	37275	41065	33288	37535	36257	31497	31882	45200
	Median	36000	40250	34500	37500	35000	33000	33600	43600
30-39	Average	60001	71884	53396	46631	51507	44305	56216	52556
	Median	51000	61000	49000	45000	48000	41500	48000	45278
40-49	Average	89819	116690	75289	70641	79647	80476	68099	62029
	Median	71244	96000	60000	65000	68000	56700	62500	57000
50-59	Average	115240	164515	92484	76892	100867	92991	80214	82897
	Median	85000	125000	66600	70000	85000	77000	72000	67500
60 or Over	Average	93599	125835	66007	48242	78002	50429	54934	98750
	Median	77575	107000	53000	44845	75600	32000	55500	92500

Years Admitted to Practice in Oregon : Compensation data by eight categories of years admitted to practice in Oregon and total years admitted to practice is presented in the following two tables. For Oregon, both the average and median overall compensation figures increase from the first category of 0 to 3 years to the category of over 30 years. In 1994, these numbers increased by category through 21 to 30 years and then declined in the final category of over 30 years. Average amounts in some categories were influenced by individuals having been admitted in another state prior to being admitted in Oregon. See also Total Years Admitted to Practice table.

1997 Compensation by Years Admitted to Practice in Oregon
Years Admitted		Oregon	Portland	Tri- County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
0-3 Years	Average	43855	46908	40310	45961	37590	51664	40370	44000
	Median	36000	43500	36000	36000	32000	35000	36000	38000
4-6 Years	Average	52408	61318	49582	39322	43516	54910	42133	51100
	Median	46000	51306	45000	42361	42000	43500	39000	41800
7-9 Years	Average	61280	75049	54775	51951	60417	43929	64790	49993
	Median	53287	67000	51500	48000	53500	45000	54000	49278
10-12 Years	Average	77096	90468	64125	72521	80227	56429	67748	35000
	Median	65000	79080	60000	53689	63000	57000	71000	40000
13-15 Years	Average	86944	112528	65451	67320	78433	93833	69708	67740
	Median	71000	85000	59000	60600	69750	100000	60000	59000
16-20 Years	Average	95929	119295	88487	76373	86652	74068	70333	55335
	Median	78000	105000	69776	72000	71000	63000	63500	58000
21-30 Years	Average	117528	162118	97125	76247	103096	103244	75500	91245
	Median	88000	137000	75000	70000	90000	77500	71500	85000
Over 30 Years	Average	125332	158646	89781	65805	117386	58857	92691	80480
	Median	98000	122500	66600	63317	100938	70000	90836	85000

Total Years Admitted to Practice : The average and median overall compensation figures generally follow the same pattern as the data in the previous table, 1997 Compensation by Years Admitted to Practice in Oregon.

1997 Compensation by Total Years Admitted to Practice
Years Admitted		Oregon	Portland	Tri- County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
0-3 Years	Average	36827	42254	27450	46249	29792	31893	32941	42667
	Median	36000	41000	29000	36000	30500	34500	33600	40000
4-6 Years	Average	49166	53908	47655	40928	40519	57442	44067	46657
	Median	45000	50000	45000	42850	39200	46000	42000	40000
7-9 Years	Average	56276	67268	51025	48554	60732	40308	58338	49993
	Median	50000	64500	50000	45701	52000	45000	50000	49278
10-12 Years	Average	76491	87200	71870	74563	62304	58125	70624	35000
	Median	68400	76250	61000	53000	59000	58500	77500	40000
13-15 Years	Average	82320	101338	65900	62402	83467	85000	65885	62469
	Median	68000	85000	58500	58000	82000	80000	60000	59000
16-20 Years	Average	93962	120193	82022	74797	83356	63811	70333	59801
	Median	75000	105000	65500	70473	71000	56000	63500	52000
21-30 Years	Average	115799	157283	93737	74600	103038	106915	78871	90342
	Median	85800	130000	73472	68180	95000	77000	80000	83300
Over 30 Years	Average	122126	155230	99164	65805	112159	61500	72712	80400
	Median	92500	122500	78000	63317	87500	74000	56000	82500

Type of Employment : Compensation data for 1997 by type of employment is presented in the following table. Overall, the highest average compensation was reported by corporate in-house counsel with $95,836 and the lowest by private non-profit at $40,778. Regional data indicates some substantial variations from the overall data. This was influenced by the small number of attorneys reporting in a particular type of employment in a specific region.

1997 Compensation by Type of Employment
Type of Employment		Oregon	Portland	Tri-County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
Private Practice	Average	91738	117778	67121	68702	80943	78594	66178	71771
	Median	67750	89950	47655	50000	63500	60500	57088	65307
Private Non-Profit	Average	40778	39497	40800	48960	35263	39298	45442	44333
	Median	39350	37750	35500	47300	35000	40000	39000	44000
Government Lawyer	Average	58906	68190	61124	56995	56073	50928	50480	52350
	Median	58000	68000	60327	56500	54000	49000	46000	54500
Corporate In-House Counsel	Average	95836	96371	97974	78435	122444	50350	n/a	n/a
	Median	75000	74000	73500	76750	86000	50200	n/a	n/a
Judge/Hearings Officer	Average	70316	91327	65403	58668	71558	72100	83217	n/a
	Median	80000	85000	59668	55000	85100	85000	83500	n/a

Area of Private Practice : The areas reporting the highest average compensation were real estate/land use with $112,537 and business/corporate with $112,105. The areas reporting the lowest average compensation were criminal with $60,754 and family law with $62,921. Regional data differs substantially in certain categories, influenced by both the number of part-time lawyers and by the smaller number of individuals reporting data in some categories/regions.

1997 Compensation by Area of Private Practice
Area of Private Practice		Oregon	Portland	Tri-County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
Bankruptcy	Average	98063	138136	68765	n/a	89810	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Median	67472	117000	47500	n/a	81051	n/a	n/a	n/a
Business/Corporate	Average	112105	127359	85333	110906	111243	82450	78333	70000
	Median	86000	100000	40000	96842	100000	58850	85000	85000
Civil Litigation, Defendant	Average	101972	110058	76711	83125	66615	156300	89386	n/a
	Median	77500	89950	60000	47500	58500	135000	75000	n/a
Civil Litigation, Plaintiff	Average	100136	120743	69666	87255	81418	71254	59185	126000
	Median	70000	80000	47000	65000	67500	52920	65000	132500
Criminal	Average	60754	79342	45391	63025	59570	52222	60632	43769
	Median	49500	55000	38000	47500	42000	56000	49500	30000
Environmental Law	Average	96740	112552	4500	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Median	74540	79540	51867	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Family Law	Average	62921	91484	47154	69706	52219	58273	48692	91200
	Median	48500	71000	35700	55000	46000	50000	46000	82000
Real Estate/Land Use	Average	112537	149205	92917	29000	114878	n/a	69147	n/a
	Median	80000	113000	80000	27500	98000	n/a	61588	n/a
Tax/Estate Planning	Average	87693	120650	63514	54185	81464	41928	75200	39861
	Median	68750	95000	56500	45000	60000	15000	90000	36000
Workers’ Compensation	Average	110756	116894	88900	63896	145869	115500	n/a	n/a
	Median	72000	65000	85000	63189	70000	121000	n/a	n/a
General (no area over 50%)	Average	71759	104371	53863	50995	69712	79578	57600	71832
	Median	57000	88500	41000	40787	51000	80000	50000	75000
Other	Average	110643	128675	89108	88028	93375	14667	n/a	n/a
	Median	81875	105000	49000	80000	81875	10000	n/a	n/a

Size of Practice : Compensation data for 1997 by size of practice is presented in the following table. Overall, both the average and the median increase as the size of practice category increases. For most of the sizes of practice, the Portland region has higher average and median compensation than the other regions. These trends are comparable to the data reported in the 1994 survey.

1997 Compensation by Size of Practice
Size of Practice		Oregon	Portland	Tri-County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
1 Lawyer Office	Average	66868	95550	56348	61505	65607	59809	51248	46701
	Median	50000	70000	41000	50000	48000	50000	45000	40000
2-6 Lawyer Office	Average	77767	88380	74727	65594	83449	76517	64826	79621
	Median	60000	71000	58500	50000	69500	60000	60000	64244
7-20 Lawyer Office	Average	88857	109945	79426	71020	68303	69047	66918	73950
	Median	62500	86500	60000	55000	57000	50000	48000	58500
21-60 Lawyer Office	Average	104851	123968	63835	55929	97972	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Median	72500	87000	61664	54486	75000	n/a	n/a	n/a
Over 60 Lawyer Office	Average	112662	126588	137591	62911	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Median	74786	93500	78000	65000	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Level of Employment : Compensation data for 1997 broken down by level of employment is presented in the following table. Data, including the number of respondents, is presented for full-time lawyers and lawyers who were working part-time by choice. It may be helpful to review this data to consider the impact that part-time lawyer compensation has on regional data presented in other tables. The Tri-County region had 15% of the lawyers included in this table working part-time by choice compared to the overall average of 10%.

1997 Compensation by Level of Employment
Level of Employment		Oregon	Portland	Tri- County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
Full-Time Lawyer	Average	88989	111892	76634	67453	82439	72867	65944	68717
	Median	67500	82750	60000	58000	63500	57000	59088	59000
	Number	1703	684	331	219	188	98	122	61
Part-Time Lawyer by Choice	Average	46298	69986	37699	30350	29309	49703	24636	36000
	Median	35000	51897	31200	30000	18000	22500	25000	13500
	Number	187	59	60	25	17	12	8	6

Method of Pay : The 1997 compensation data by method of pay is presented in the following table. Only individuals working full-time or part-time as lawyers in all types of employment were included. Owners reported the highest average compensation in all regions of the state.

1997 Compensation by Method of Pay
Method of Pay		Oregon	Portland	Tri- County	Upper Valley	Lower Valley	Southern Oregon	Eastern Oregon	Oregon Coast
Owner (e.g., Partner, Shareholder, Sole Practitioner)	Average	106125	145100	73906	81384	90658	87662	74098	71324
	Median	85000	120000	50000	65000	81000	70000	65000	67654
Employee (e.g., salaried or hourly paid)	Average	60505	64737	65037	55273	60038	47712	50888	50925
	Median	54000	58000	56000	51600	50000	45000	45000	48000
Contract (e.g., paid by hour or assignment)	Average	33909	49636	37355	27885	26271	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Median	29407	45000	25000	30000	10000	n/a	n/a	n/a

The following table presents additional information regarding two categories of method of pay, owner and employee. Data is provided for full-time lawyers by area of private practice (includes only lawyers in private practice) and by total years admitted to practice. Compensation reported is consistently higher for owners than employees except for the category 0 to 3 years admitted to practice where employee compensation exceeds owner compensation.

1997 Compensation Method of Pay - Full-Time Lawyers
Selected Variables	Owner		Employee
Area of Private Practice	Average	Median	Average	Median
Bankruptcy	114933	94801	49143	52000
Business/Corporate	145189	120000	63608	56834
Civil Litigation, Defendant	146741	130000	55418	52000
Civil Litigation, Plaintiff	121937	85000	48263	43900
Criminal	72809	62000	34410	34300
Environmental Law	145942	150000	68708	68500
Family Law	73357	62000	43305	36000
Real Estate/Land Use	150186	120000	55211	56000
Tax/Estate Planning	111578	92580	50100	45250
Workers’ Compensation	137758	97500	55778	54000
General (no area over 50%)	84989	75000	43120	37000
Other	142320	116500	62989	60000
Total Years Admitted to Practice	Average	Median	Average	Median
0-3 Years	31153	24100	40083	36000
4-6 Years	60945	50000	49043	47000
7-9 Years	66419	62000	56604	51500
10-12 Years	88593	77000	69863	65000
13-15 Years	101769	90000	65918	60000
16-20 Years	117524	105000	73626	68500
21-30 Years	135900	110000	84999	76000
Over 30 Years	156443	120000	99897	86650