Lawyer Pay

Think Harvard law grads are more likely to stay in law practice than others? 28% ditched legal jobs

Harvard law grads have the advantage of a JD from an elite institution, but they don’t differ from other law grads when it comes to leaving law practice. About 28 percent of Harvard law grads from four graduating classes are no longer practicing law in their current jobs, according to…

May 13, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

7th Circuit: Law firm doesn’t owe fired PI attorney bonuses, due to terms of compensation pact

After more than five years of litigation, a personal injury lawyer has lost his fight to collect on bonuses he claimed his former law firm employer owed him on breast-implant cases for which payment was received after he was fired. The motive for his 2007 termination was to avoid paying…

May 5, 2015 2:15 PM CDT

Winston chairman will earn $1,300 an hour to represent Ferguson in Justice Department probe

Ferguson, Missouri, will pay the chairman of Winston & Strawn $1,335 an hour to represent the city in connection with a Justice Department probe that found “a pattern of unconstitutional policing” in the city. Ferguson’s city council hired Chicago lawyer Dan Webb in a closed-door meeting March 27, the St.…

May 5, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Suit claims Farmers Insurance underpays female lawyers

A female lawyer claims in a lawsuit against Farmers Insurance that her $99,000 salary at the company was substantially less than the paycheck for male lawyers handling similar work. The plaintiff, Lynne Coates, says she complained when she learned in May 2014 that a male colleague handling similar tasks earned…

May 1, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Northwestern offers ‘interest freedom plan’ to law grads earning less than $85K in private sector

Some Northwestern University law grads will get some temporary help making their loan payments as a result of a new program announced Tuesday by the law school. The program, which begins with the class of 2015, will temporarily pay interest on student loans for law grads who make less than…

Apr 30, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Latham soars to top of Am Law 100 list with record $2.6B in revenue

Latham & Watkins for the first time has taken the top spot in the annual Am Law 100 rankings, after booking $2.6 billion in gross revenue in 2014. That is the the highest amount ever earned by an Am Law 100 firm, the American Lawyer (sub. req.) reports. The $2.6…

Apr 27, 2015 11:45 AM CDT

New BigLaw associates make the most money in NYC, says survey

While $160,000 is widely recognized as the benchmark starting salary paid to first-year associates by the top BigLaw firms, a number outside New York City pay less. Before the recession hit the legal industry hard, 80 percent of the law firms employing 700 attorneys or more said they were paying…

Apr 20, 2015 2:45 PM CDT

NALP sees ‘upward movement’ in starting pay for associates; median increases $10K

Updated and corrected: The year 2009 remains the high-water mark for starting associate salaries in BigLaw, but there is a bright spot for new lawyers in salary statistics released on Thursday by the National Association for Law Placement. The national median first-year associate salary at law firms of all sizes…

Apr 16, 2015 7:51 AM CDT

Law firm is dissolving after nearly 60 years; senior partner points finger at retirement plan

The last four years have been the most profitable in the nearly 60-year history of Harding & Shultz, a senior partner says. But the Lincoln, Nebraska, business boutique is dissolving, and Bill Harding is pointing the finger at its retirement plan, reports the Lincoln Journal Star. The son of founder…

Mar 13, 2015 9:45 AM CDT

Why time law school? Value of law degree drops only $30K in bad vs. good economy, study says

Thinking about timing law-school attendance to graduate at a financially advantageous time? Don’t bother, say two researchers who previously concluded that the present value of a law degree is about $1 million more, on average, than the value of a college degree. Graduating from law school in a bad economy…

Mar 10, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Former prosecutor claims she was paid less than new hires due to gender bias

A former assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, claims in a lawsuit that she was fired after complaining she was paid less than some new hires with less experience. Christina Corda says she began to complain to her supervisor in March 2014 about the low salary paid to her…

Mar 5, 2015 10:33 AM CST

Former partner with Asperger’s alleges bonus bias, solicitation of prostitutes by colleague

A former law firm partner with Asperger’s syndrome alleges in a lawsuit that his firm, Patterson & Sheridan, failed to curb discriminatory actions by one partner while overlooking the conduct of another who solicited prostitutes while at the office. The plaintiff, John Carey, worked at the Palo Alto, California, office…

Mar 2, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Suit claims departing lawyers weren’t paid promised bonuses

Seven lawyers who left the Nelson Brown law firm last year have filed a lawsuit claiming they were never paid bonuses promised before their departure. The lawyers left the insurance boutique that was then known as Nelson Levine de Luca & Hamilton in February 2014, the Legal Intelligencer (reg. req,)…

Feb 11, 2015 8:46 AM CST

Most workers see wage stagnation after first 10 years; are lawyers an exception?

Most workers see the biggest pay increases in the first 10 years of their career, followed by years of stagnation, according to a new report. High earners, such as lawyers, doctors and engineers, are an exception, the Washington Post’s Wonkblog reports. The study used U.S. Social Security Administration data gathered…

Feb 11, 2015 7:49 AM CST

Some associates will earn less as gap widens between rich and super-rich law firms, columnist says

As rich law firms lose ground to the super-rich law firms, their associates will feel the monetary pain, according to a columnist who is a former BigLaw partner. Writing at Above the Law, lawyer Mark Herrmann says it’s tough for law firms earning $1 million in profits per partner to…

Feb 10, 2015 7:01 AM CST