Chesebert is citing salaries and bonuses for biglaw in NYC, DC, San Francisco, and such. That is a very small sliver of attorneys. Even out of the very top law schools, a majority of the class does
not go into biglaw in those markets, as many still choose to do biglaw in secondary markets, mid-size or smaller firms, government work, public interest, and other. What Chesebert lists is not typical for biglaw in secondary markets. At my biglaw firm in a large but secondary city, the associate salary range goes from $140k starting to $200k tops, plus bonuses ranging from about $3k to $20k (higher only if you bring in a significant chunk of business yourself). (When I add together all compensation for a consistently top-performing associate going from 1st to 9th year here, they
cannot gross more than $1.6 million.) Plus, OP already knows the couple local firms that he prefers and he recognizes that those are not on the pay scale that Chesebert lists.
I agree with so much of what other commenters have written (e.g., Nick_Miller, ReadySetMillionaire, onlykelsey). Working at a big firm can be an extremely challenging environment -- lots of pressure to have no boundaries, to carry a very heavy workload, to meet every deadline without exception even with conflicting partners and competing projects, to navigate seriously intense office politics, and to put up with a handful of terrible even abusive personalities, often to the detriment of your personal life and health. Obviously, there are many awesome things about these jobs, too -- like the intellectual and strategic challenges of the legal work, the friendships and camaraderie with the vast majority of your colleagues, the awesome satisfaction from helping your clients, and the very high compensation. You really need to weigh for yourself whether the benefits of this career will be worth the costs.
FWIW, I graduated from a top 10 law school on ~half tuition merit scholarship (and I loved my law school experience) nine years ago. I worked in biglaw my whole career until I very recently left the firm on "summer vacation" or "semi-retirement." I'm overdue to take a break from the stress, especially since the organizational changes of my particular group in the last few years have not been for the better, in my opinion. I will take my time and be very selective in choosing my next job since I'm in a strong financial position to do so and I want to choose a really good match, something that makes me happy and excited to work most days and where I think I'd be happy to stay long-term. My personality is very loyal and I'm definitely not the job-hopper type.
I do want to highlight this question from Jrr85 here:
One more question? Why are you moving across the country to go to law school? I know you said you have a scholarship, but if you are planning on coming back to a firm where starting pay is $100-$120k, it doesn't sound like a firm that will require you to go to a top law school. Is there not a good if not top lawschool nearby that the firms you have connections with will also hire from?
I think this is a point you should at least give some thought to. In my experience, law schools are extremely willing to match or beat scholarship offers from schools that are ranked equal or higher. Thus, you could leverage your scholarship award from the top school to get at least as good a deal at a law school that is closer to your current location, assuming there is a good one and that you want to live there after graduation. I had a good friend at my law school who knew that after graduating he would want to go back to the midwestern state where, until law school, he had lived his entire life. My school is awesome, but still there are not many firms from his state that come for on-grounds interviews. He actually regrets attending my law school because even though it is ranked so well, he feels he would have had a much better network into his legal market if he had attended his top state school instead. Consider whether you might be in a position like he was in.
Good luck! By the way, are you deciding whether to start at this law school just a few weeks from now? Or next year?