On average, jurists who serve on the highest state courts in the country are paid a little more than $200,000 per year.

That’s at the low end of what the biggest firms are currently paying their first-year associates, according to a report on National Law Journal 500 firms.

Those who have served on their states’ courts of last resort say that while judges have always known the move into a public service role from other positions in the legal field comes with a pay cut, they’re worried that that gap is widening to the point of turning away attorneys who have the potential to serve their state well and decreasing retention on the bench.

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