What type of lawyer is the highest paid? How long does it take to be an attorney?
Law school is 3 intense years. To get into a law school accredited by the American Bar Association, you must first finish a Bachelor’s degree—-so 7 years altogether. A few states allow you to test for the bar exam without going through law school, but you can expect to fail the bar, and the exceptions are still rare. Patent attorneys are currently paid the most on average for entry level attorneys. A newly licensed patent attorney can expect to earn $100,000-$150,000 his/her first year out of law school (depending on the market). Other first year attorneys might expect something closer to $60,000-$80,000 their first year. Still, how much you make depends not just on the type of law that you practice, but what kind of firm you work for, how many hours you work, what kind of clients you get, etc. A lot depends on the reputation of the attorney, the market, the attorney’s business contacts, etc.
