With five years of experience, a defense attorney could earn $62,280 a year, while a prosecutor would make $62,320 a year — a difference of just $40.With more than 10 years of experience, annual salaries grew to $76,160 for public defense attorneys and $81,500 for prosecutors.ssociates with five years of experience earned $90,000 a year at firms with 25 or fewer attorneys, while these same lawyers could earn $120,000 at firms with 100 to 250 lawyers.