2009 Pay Structures and Salary Increases for United States Attorneys and Attorneys Paid Under the Administratively Determined (AD) Pay Plan
On January 9, 2009, EOUSA issued a memorandum setting 2009 pay structures for AUSAs. The maximum salary of United States Attorneys is $153,200 for 2009.
All Federal White Collar Employees Do Not Receive the Full Annual Pay Adjustment
AUSAs in several large metropolitan areas do not receive the full annual pay adjustment because of pay caps. The Congressional Research Service published a paper on "Federal White-Collar Pay: FY 2009 Salary Adjustments" which discusses the annual pay adjustment and sheds light on the problems that are created by pay caps.
Department of Justice Attorney Pay Policy
The Department has two pay scales applicable to attorneys. Attorneys hired by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices are compensated under an Administratively Determined (AD) pay scale authorized by Title 28, U.S. Code. All other attorneys are compensated under the General Schedule (GS) for federal employees authorized by Title 5, U.S. Code. Federal salaries vary by geographic location. Attorneys assigned to high cost of living areas receive a percentage of their base pay as "locality pay." The Office of Personnel Management publishes GS salary tables that list base pay and, for geographic areas with locality pay, the specific annual salary for that location. Salary ranges for Assistant U.S. Attorneys differ from the GS salary for that location and are graded based on experience and level of responsibility.
Experienced Attorneys: Starting salaries for experienced attorneys are based on the position, the attorney's experience, and other considerations. Generally, only experience in the field of law will be considered relevant, but non-legal experience following law school may be counted if it can be satisfactorily demonstrated that such experience is directly applicable to the attorney duties to be performed with the organization and is particularly helpful to the hiring organization. In rare instances, pre-law school graduation experience, whether legal or non-legal, may be considered.
The U.S. Attorney's Offices use an Administratively Determined pay schedule based on years of experience and other qualifications. Note that the fact that an attorney has the minimum experience for a particular grade level does not mean that the attorney is entitled to that grade level. Starting salaries are generally negotiated with the hiring component and are based on many factors, including budgetary considerations, the level of responsibility associated with the position, and the salary levels of currently employed attorneys. There are ten salary steps within each GS salary grade and a range of salaries within each AD salary grade.
