Qualifications

• Litigation attorneys have the same general requirements as most lawyers. They must first complete a four-year bachelor's degree followed by three years in law school. The undergraduate degree may be in almost any subject, but those interested in becoming a litigation attorney should focus their studies on subjects such as English, economics, history, government, and business. While in law school, future litigation lawyers will also focus on constitutional law, courtroom presentation, and negotiation procedures. All lawyers must pass the bar exam for the state in which they wish to practice law.
  
  

Location

• The national average salary for attorneys in general in the United States was $129,020 a year as of May of 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the cost of living as well as demand for lawyers can influence salaries. For example, in the state of Florida, which has a relatively low cost of living, the average attorney wage is $113,380 a year. In California however, even thought the concentration of lawyers is low, the cost of living is much higher than average and attorneys can expect an average salary of $151,970 a year. The highest paying area in the U.S. for lawyers is Washington D.C., which also has the highest concentration of attorneys, and they earn an average annual salary of $156,750.
  
  

Type of Litigation

• The salary for a litigation attorney may also be influenced by the type of cases or law being dealt with. According to Salary.com in January 2011, real estate attorneys can average $116,836 a year. An employment and labor attorney with at least eight years of experience averages $147,910 a year in the U.S..
  
  

Type of Employer

• The most common type of employer for attorneys in the U.S. are legal service firms, more commonly known as law firms. The national average salary of lawyers at these firms was $136,540 annually as of May of 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The government also employs over 100,000 attorneys nationwide. At the local level, these lawyers make an average of $91,040, but Federal Executive Branch attorneys earn an annual wage of $127,550.