Associates in the UK Foresee a Less Lucrative Future
A likely slowdown in associate pay increases in the U.K. may offer some signposts to help their U.S. law firm counterparts steer a course in challenging economic times.
Although a few firms in the United Kingdom recently decided to increase salaries substantially for associate lawyers, most expect pay raises to be skimpier than in recent boom years or even nonexistent, according to a recent Legal Week survey.
Likely to do the best in the salary wars between associates, who perennially want more, and partners, who contend they should make do with less, are midlevels and associates in relatively hot practice areas such as litigation and bankruptcy. Not surprisingly, real estate, after the U.S. mortgage meltdown and worldwide credit crunch, is particularly cold.
Additionally, more firms may abandon traditional lockstep pay increases for associates with the same years of experience and raise pay, when merited, based on job performance, the article predicts.
Read the full article.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “London Partners to Associates: At $125K, We’re Paying You Too Much”
ABAJournal.com: “Linklaters Will Pay New U.K. Associates $131K”
ABAJournal.com: “Shearman Raises Pay for London Associates to $158K”
