The median salary for recent graduates takes into account the graduates that enter private practice as well as the lower paying public service sector e.g. Public Defenders, Legal Aid etc. Therefore, the median salary will not be representative of the amount most graduates make in the private sector. However, schools that have lower median salaries (up to 65,000-75,000) usually means that the graduates obtain associate positions at the smaller firms that pay less although some may obtain largeer firm associate positions. The schools that report larger salaries (above 80,000) means that a significant number of the graduates obtain associate positons at the larger firms that pay higher salaries.