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Comment by pc86

3 months ago

I'm in my mid thirties and have often considering moving from software to law. My software path tops out at around $200-250k so the upside on law seems better if you look at the big opportunity cost and lower wage periods with some rose colored glasses ;)

I’ve got bad news for you if you think the average lawyer makes more.

https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/lawyer/salary

  • Unlike the normal distribution in your link, earnings in the legal profession follow a bimodal distribution. The mean/median earnings of everyone from public defenders and law firm associates isn't typically representative of actual incomes.

  • It's a pretty bad idea to change careers in your mid 30s if you plan on being average at it.

    • No one “plans” on being average just like I’m sure a lot of software engineers “plan” on graduating from college working for BigTech and adjacent and making $160K+ straight out of college and not working for “Billy Bob’s Fish Tackle and Wordpress shop” making $50K.