Lawyer Pay

McDermott’s Assoc. Tiers Twist: The B Team

Another major law firm is planning to institute a two-tiered system for associate attorneys. But it is taking a different approach from what some other avant-garde law shops are doing. Instead of giving current partnership-track associates a choice between working more hours for more pay or taking a kinder, gentler…

Nov 1, 2007 6:35 PM CDT

More Firms Announce Big Bonuses, Up to $115K

Cravath, Swaine & Moore made news this week when it announced special bonuses for associates that range from $10,000 to $50,000. Now several other law firms have also announced special bonuses of up to $50,000, Above the Law reports. They include Debevoise & Plimpton; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; and Paul…

Nov 1, 2007 6:03 PM CDT

Cravath to Pay Special Associate Bonuses Up to $50K

Cravath, Swaine & Moore will pay associates special bonuses that range from $10,000 to $50,000, depending on their years with the law firm. On top of that, associates will get the usual year-end bonuses that range from $35,000 to $60,000, the New York Law Journal reports. The special bonuses will…

Oct 30, 2007 11:42 AM CDT

Top Students Hold Law Firm Trump Cards

Some Stanford students who compiled diversity rankings for big law firms want their report to have an impact. The students, who are members of a group called Building a Better Legal Profession, plan to exercise their clout by asking the top law schools to restrict recruiting by firms that did…

Oct 29, 2007 12:09 PM CDT

Philly Firm Ponies Up More Associate $$

First they said they wouldn’t, but now Philadelphia-based Cozen O’Connor is raising starting salaries for first-year associates. The firm is upping pay from $125,000 to $135,000. This after several area firms made that jump and then recently upped the dollar amount to $145,000, according to the Legal Intelligencer (reg. req.).…

Oct 24, 2007 5:41 PM CDT

Are Lower Billables Start of a Trend?

Some midsize law firms are cutting billable hour requirements, perhaps ushering in change at other law firms, the National Law Journal concludes. “Such a strategy is something other law firms say they are contemplating and could represent the advent of a change in the industry that many contend is long…

Oct 23, 2007 12:45 PM CDT

Recruiter Predicts 5.4% Leap in Lawyer Starting Pay

Average starting pay for lawyers is projected to rise 5.4 percent next year, according to a legal recruiting agency. First-year associates at large law firms with 75 or more lawyers will see the biggest gain, with base annual starting salaries expected to rise about 9.1 percent and range from about…

Oct 22, 2007 3:03 PM CDT

Chicago Firm Creates 2 Tiers of Associates

Law firms with two tiers of partners are commonplace. So it was perhaps foreseeable that some would respond to ever-increasing starting salaries for attorneys by creating two tiers of associates. Chicago-based Chapman and Cutler has done just that, giving associates a choice between working more hours for top dollar (the…

Oct 16, 2007 7:20 PM CDT

Merit, Not Lockstep, Pay at Jones Day

Despite the attention paid in recent months to Howrey’s announcement that it would no longer implement a so-called lockstep pay schedule for associate attorneys, merit-based salary schedules are by no means unprecedented at major firms. Jones Day has had such a salary system for associates for decades, paying young attorneys…

Oct 15, 2007 8:03 PM CDT

CA Associates Look to Bonuses as Pay Holds Firm

Some California associates are hoping that New York law firms will raise annual starting pay to $200,000, leading to another round of salary wars. But many observers say a cooling economy is likely to keep new associate pay at the big California firms at $160,000, the Recorder reports. In view…

Oct 8, 2007 12:54 PM CDT

Pay Doesn’t Match Work for Managing Partners

Managing partners in the San Francisco Bay area often work harder than they did before they took the job, but they don’t make any more money. The Recorder did an informal survey of 23 managing partners and found 70 percent work harder but only 22 percent make more money. “It’s…

Oct 5, 2007 2:28 PM CDT

$160,000 for a Few New Associates in CT

A few national law firms are paying top dollar to new associates in Connecticut . The Connecticut Law Tribune says these law firms are paying $160,000 to first-years: – Bingham McCutchen in Hartford. – Kelley, Drye & Warren in Stamford. – Dechert in Hartford. – Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels in…

Oct 5, 2007 1:51 PM CDT

Pay Cuts for Top Partners at London Firm?

Although at least three quarters of the partners at Ashurst voted recently to approve a change in the London-based law firm’s lockstep compensation structure, many are now reportedly nervous about how the new pay scale will be implemented. “Around 75 of Ashurst’s most senior partners will see their position at…

Oct 4, 2007 5:36 PM CDT

Manhattan Work at Mumbai Prices

Inside India’s hottest legal outsourcing team

Oct 1, 2007 8:43 PM CDT

NY 1st-Year Pay Plan: $250K, But No Jobs

Observers are waiting to see what the next salary move will be in New York City, where law firms that tried to surge ahead on first-year pay are now neck-and-neck with competitors from other major cities. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s move earlier this year to raise starting pay to $160,000…

Oct 1, 2007 7:41 PM CDT