LEGAL PROFESSION UPDATE: NALP: Associate Salaries Remain Flat. And note the massively bimodal salary curve, with the average dragged way above what most new associates actually make because of the skinny-but-tall spike that represents biglaw starting salaries. Bottom line is that unless you get a biglaw job, you probably won’t make more than between $45K and $65K to start. That’s not terrible — unless you’re carrying six-figure debt, in which case it is terrible.