By: jackie.sauter

Ever since I missed dining next to VP Joe Biden and his wife Jill by mere minutes (they patronized Booeymonger deli in Chevy Chase for brunch recently), I’ve been hoping for re-do. What are the perks of Bethesda living, after all, if not an occasional political-celebrity sighting?

Maybe if I’d hung around the Bethesda office of Gelman, Rosenberg and Freedman, I’d have gotten lucky.

The Bidens used the Montgomery Co. CPA firm to prepare their 2008 taxes (PDF). For the nosy journalist in all of us, the couple collectively made $269,256 in ’08 – an impressive sum, but peanuts compared to the Obamas’ 2.7 million (PDF).

To their credit, the Obamas were generous with their earnings, donating $172,050 to charity, compared to the Bidens’ $1,885.

By: jackie.sauter

As a (proud) graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, I’ll admit: I went to more than a few parties while I was there. I’m still surprised that the campus made Princeton Review’s list of “Top 20 Party Schools” last year – but, hey, I wasn’t involved in Greek life, so maybe my perception’s skewed.

Regardless, I’m pleased to read today in a PayScale report on graduates’ salaries that UMD ranks second on the list of party schools with “salary potential.” Supposedly, by mid-career (PayScale says typically, age 42 with 15.5 years of experience) a UMD graduate can expect to be earning $95K. (Obviously, this is highly dependent on area of expertise.)

UMD also scored well (No. 14) on the “Top State Universities” list, a broader category. (And if you squint and ignore all the schools based on the left coast, we’re easily inside the top 10!)

I nosed around for other local schools that were ranked but didn’t find any. If you see one I missed, let us know.

Data for the report was gathered from employees who completed a survey. Only employees who have a Bachelor’s degree and no higher degree were included.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

Top Party Colleges By Salary Potential

Methodology
Annual pay for Bachelors graduates without higher degrees. Typical starting graduates have 3 years of experience; mid-career have 15.5 years. See full methodology for more.

By: jackie.sauter

Some more news on the big-firm salary front: the largest of the truly Maryland-headquartered firms, Miles & Stockbridge, is up to $140,000. The increase, which is as of the new year, is a $15,000 bump from last year’s rate.

That puts Miles at the same salary level as Ballard Spahr’s Baltimore’s office. Both firms are $20,000 lower than the Charm City offices of Venable and DLA Piper, two firms born here but now playing with the big boys on a national level.

Miles chairman John Frisch says the raise doesn’t come with a billable-hour requirement hike. Miles remains at 1850, lower than Piper or Venable.

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer