Gothamist: Justice Isn't Free: Judges Agitate for Raises

TKaisen

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:06:16 -0500

I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say judges work a 40 hour week... which I don't think they do. Anyway... 40 hour week * 52 weeks = 2080 hours. $139,600 yr / 2080 hours = $67.11 per hour. Plus state benefits and retirement plan. If you want to make more money, be a lawyer.

thefacts

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:49:22 -0500

#6: You get what you pay for.

kissel

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:40:50 -0500

no, they actually don't. they make a fine salary. we need to be reducing state budgets not giving out fistfuls of dollars.

eyekantspel

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:28:24 -0500

Probably a very large majority of the graduating classes of NYU, Columbia and Cornell are making those salaries, the top 30% of Fordham, and the top 10-15% of other area law schools. And those are starting salaries. After bonus- $190k. Judges, on the other hand, have generally been practicing for 10 years or more. Should they make a million dollars a year? No. But they deserve to be paid in the top 10 of the 50 states, not #49. And 10 years without a raise is far too long.

JRod5417

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:57:50 -0500

The judges should only get a raise if the law clerks get bumped up too. The law clerks do all the thinking, research and drafting for the judge. Also, the first years making $160,000 represent a small percentage of law graduates many of whom take jobs that pay peanuts.

eyekantspel

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:48:41 -0500

Partners at a big firm (generally 10+ years experience) can make a million dollars a year depending on the firm. Meanwhile, the judges who are deciding the case make less than a 1st year attorney. And that 160k a year the described 1st year is making does not include bonus. Certainly there is a disconnect between private and public sector salaries, and there's nothing wrong with that. But our judges are ranked 49th in pay out of the 50 states. 49th. They haven't gotten a raise in 10 years. Their pay is tied to pay in the legislature, but the difference is that people in the legislature can have a day job to supplement their pay. Our judges deserve a raise.

TKaisen

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:52:56 -0500

The $139,000 salary sounds like, and is, a good deal of money; but among the legal field it's chump change. As The New York Sun points out, a 24-year-old law school grad recruited to a top firm can pull in $160,000 a year One is funded by tax-payers, includes working 9-5, having all holidays off, is nearly impossible to get fired from, and has the best benefits and pension plan in the known universe. The other is funded by a private company, requires 80-100 hour weeks, is at-will employment, and you're on your own for retirement. Is it really that hard to figure out?

JenChungsBra

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:41:11 -0500

How on earth could a state judge preside over this case? Isn't that a blatant conflict of interest? Wouldn't every judge have to recuse himself from this one?