Go the GS route

Hi, JD who used to be a law librarian in a law firm and continues to work in this area (so this is based on concrete knowledge, not conjecture).

The first thing to understand about this transition is that law librarians traditional have an MLS instead of a JD. Some jobs explicitly require a JD. However, what I've found is that law firms are generally more open to law librarians without an MLS if they have a JD and a resume demonstrating pristine research skills. You need great references on those research skills. They will not hire someone who's just tired of legal practice and want a job with better hours.

The other thing to know is that "librarian" is a broad term. There are certain library positions that the average JD will not be qualified to do unless you have experience working in libraries. Stuff like managing collections and services, inter-library loan services, etc. This is the kind of stuff you generally learn in an MLS.

So most likely what your friend is actually looking for is a "reference librarian" position. These are people who help lawyers and paralegals get access to research resources and will often do some of the research themselves. When I worked as a firm reference librarian, I often put together sets of case law in a given area to facilitate an attorney preparing their research into a specific point of law. I also did a lot of factual research for litigators, which is fun and can be about anything, though admittedly at a large law firm it's often about stuff like insurance premiums or stock prices. I also did a lot of research on firm clients to prepare attorneys for pitches to potential clients or to help them with annual reviews with existing major clients. And finally I sometimes maintained internal newsletters and updates on legal or news topics of interest. For instance, at a firm doing work that might be impacted by the crisis in Ukraine, it would be common for reference librarians to pull together daily or weekly news briefings on relevant developments.

In terms of pay, it can vary a lot, but for the reference librarian positions at AmLaw 200 firms, you can expect to make somewhere between 60-90k for a non managerial role. Certain librarians who have been with firms for a very long time might break 100k, but as a PP mentioned, firms have not kept these salaries up with the pace of inflation, so it is still hard to make over 100k in a firm library unless you are in a management or department head role. And at many firms that will require BOTH a JD and MLS. Fair warning. In DC there are actually a decent number of people with both.

It's true you can make more in government positions, largely because the GS scale helps ensure better compensation for roles where you are doing original legal research, which many law librarians are. You can also look at the Library of Congress, which hires a ton of both MLS and JDs. In fact, I'd likely start with LoC if your friend is DC-based, because they hire often and their work is pretty interesting. I'd include CRS (Congressional Research Service) in this as well -- they hire a lot of JDs, and all the better if your friend has practice experience which can be useful for many of those roles. They hire people directly as well as through a contractor. The direct hire jobs are better and pay more (on the GS scale), but I do know people who have moved into direct hire jobs after contracting. I believe the main contractor right now is still LAC Group but I'm a few years out of the loop on that so I don't know for sure.

You are very unlikely to ever make more than 120-130k as a law librarian, unless you are literally running a library. Which, again, will require an MLS. A few of the government positions I've mentioned require JDs and you might make a bit more as a result, depending on the potential for promotion.

There are also other librarian positions that you can move into with just a JD. I know someone with a JD who works in a prison library and loves it, for instance. No idea if that something that would interest your friend. But it raises another important point, which is that your experience is driven by your library clients. It's important to ask who you are willing to work with and for. Working for law firm partners at a large firm is very different from working from government attorneys. Working for litigators is different from working for labor lawyers. Working for congresspeople and their aids is different from working with prisoners. I wouldn't just apply to any law librarian position. They need to think critically about the kind of work they'd like to do, the environment they want to be in, and work from there. I think library work is awesome and actually really miss it sometimes, but it's very much not for everyone.

At firms in DC, you will likely get 90+ for research librarians in a law firm. See https://www.llsdc.org/llsdc-jobline for options.

https://www.salary.com/research/salary/posting/law-librarian-salary/dc
How much does a Law Librarian make in District of Columbia? The average Law Librarian salary in District of Columbia is $72,049 as of January 27, 2022, but the range typically falls between $61,424 and $84,474. Salary ranges can vary widely depending on the city and many other important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession.

And, here are some sites for them:

https://www.aallnet.org/careers/

The American Association of Law Librarians does have an annual salary survey, available to members and at some law libraries:
https://www.aallnet.org/careers/salary-survey

"The 2021 AALL Salary Survey found that the average salary for reference/research law librarians was $91,431 in firm/corporate, $74,227 in academic, and $71,393 in government law libraries.Nov 22, 2021"
https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/PR_2021-AALL-Salary-Survey-FINAL.pdf

And, I do have a former coworker who became a state government librarian after working as a corporate lawyer. She lasted about 4 years, and then went back to work as a lawyer for state government to make more money and have better working conditions.

I would encourage your friend to look at the current job ads to get a salary estimate. I'm already a librarian, and the librarian salaries in the DC area have, on the whole, not kept up with the cost of living. Most federal libraries have also cut their staff.

As a law librarian with a JD your friend could possibly make much more money as a librarian at a major law school library in a lower cost of living area.

Your friend is better off searching for positions within the federal government. Depending on experience and the Agency, the salary ranges from 60,000 to 160,000.

https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?l=Washington%2C%20District%20of%20Columbia&k=law%20librarian

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC big law downsized their library staff about 10-15 years ago so I'd assume the jobs being scarce are pretty hard to get.

ok. but the pay?

You'll earn more playing a sexy librarian on Onlyfans than a real librarian in big law.

Anonymous wrote:DC big law downsized their library staff about 10-15 years ago so I'd assume the jobs being scarce are pretty hard to get.

ok. but the pay?

DC big law downsized their library staff about 10-15 years ago so I'd assume the jobs being scarce are pretty hard to get.

very curious. asking for a friend who wants to shift from law to law librarian....