Paralegal pay continues to rise for both law firms and law departments, according to the 2012 Annual Compensation Survey for Paralegals/Legal Assistants and Managers released today.

The survey has been conducted annually since 2002 by ALM Legal Intelligence, a leading source of business intelligence for the legal profession, in partnership with the International Paralegal Management Association (IPMA).

The survey tracks compensation, billing rates and billable hours for paralegals, based on responses from 274 law firms and law departments representing more than 8,775 paralegal positions. 

Key findings from the survey included the following:

  • The number of organizations granting salary increases increased from 2011.  
  • The top 2 highest paid (hourly) positions in 2012 are Litigation Support/Technology Manager ($77.72) and Paralegal Director ($67.73) on the law firm side, and Paralegal Manager ($59.05) on the law department side.
  • Case Manager and Litigation Support/Technology Manager saw the biggest increases on the firm side; Paralegal and Paralegal Managers saw big increases on the law department side.
  • Law firm paralegal average billing rates increased or remainedrelatively the same in 2012 with rates ranging from $134 an hour for a Case Assistant up to $299 for the Specialist/Industry Analyst position.   
A copy of the survey report may be purchased here: www.almlegalintel.com .
I am curious if law firms of all sizes were surveyed or if the results are only from larger firms that hire paralegal managers. The results of this survey do not coincide with what I am hearing from paralegals across the country who report their salaries remain stagnant with perhaps only slim increases.

Has your paralegal compensation increased in 2012?

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Source: GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com and ALM