Nearly Half of Mass. Lawyers Surveyed Expect to Earn Less in 2009

Nearly half the Massachusetts lawyers who responded to an online survey said they expected to earn less money this year than in 2008.

The Massachusetts Bar Association online survey of its members was modeled after an ABA survey last fall, the New England Business Bulletin reports. In some instances, Massachusetts lawyers’ responses mirrored the ABA survey, while their answers to other questions—including the salary query--were much more pessimistic.

Only 29 percent of the lawyers who responded to the online ABA survey last November said they expected to earn less in 2009. A much greater percentage--48.6 percent--of the Massachusetts lawyers surveyed a month later expected to earn less.

The Massachusetts survey also found:

• 78.5 percent think the entire legal profession will be affected by the recession, about the same percentage of ABA lawyers who think the profession will be affected.

• 73.2 percent believe the legal field will continue to be rocky for a while. Fifty-nine percent of ABA lawyers said it will be rocky.

• 51.3 percent think the current downturn will not end until 2010, about the same percentage of ABA lawyers who predict an end to the recession in 2010.

Hundreds of lawyers responded to the Massachusetts survey, while more than 14,000 answered the ABA survey.