Starting Pay For Law School Grad In Boston: $10,000

Per year.  Not per month. From June 4, 2012 CBS Boston:

The BBJ received an emailed tip this week from someone who says they’re an employed, Boston College Law School (BC Law) graduate. The tipster sent screen grabs of a job listing on BC Law’s career site. The post advertises a full-time associate position at a small Boston law firm, Gilbert & O’Bryan LLP, paying just $10,000 per year. (That’s $10K, it’s not a typo.)

Larry O’Bryan, one of the firm’s partners, said he’s received about 32 applications for the $10K per year job, since posting it one week ago. He said that while the pay is low, the lawyer who is eventually hired will gain valuable experience.

I'm sure.  Considering Boston's cost of living, they'll learn how to sleep on steam grate, dig through dumpsters for food, and learn how to make blankets out of discarded newspapers.

Seriously: is a starting lawyer's labor worth so little that the law firm can only afford to pay this poorly?  Or is someone just taking advantage of the desperation of freshly minted lawyers?