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Boston Career Explorer

Educational Instruction and Library

Law Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach courses in law. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Also called: Business Law Professor, Clinical Law Professor, Law Instructor, Law Professor, Legal Studies Professor, Legal Writing Professor

Median pay in Greater Boston
$170,310
Jobs in Greater Boston
710
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+5.8%
70 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Doctoral or professional degree
Less than 5 years of related work experience

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$78,010$106,490$170,310$229,150$323,630

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
  • Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
  • Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, papers, and oral presentations.
  • Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
  • Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure94 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 93
  • Language-model AIOE 99
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 91

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is higher, so AI tools could help with or change some tasks. Drafting course materials, writing and grading exams and papers, and legal research are the tasks they touch. There is little or no observed AI use in this job so far. Leading class discussions and judging student reasoning stay with the teacher.

Likely to change

  • Drafting course materials and exam questions
  • Grading papers and supporting legal research

Still relies on people

  • Moderating classroom debate and discussion
  • Coaching students' oral arguments and reasoning

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Economics Teachers, Postsecondary

    Lecturing, preparing course materials, and research skills carry over. It offers similar pay ($174,910) and 5.9% growth, but needs economics expertise.

    Pay difference
    +$4,600 median
    AI exposure
    Higher
    MA growth
    +5.9%
    To get started
    Doctoral or professional degree

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

2 programs near Boston (plus 20 graduate)

Related occupations

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