Lawyer Pay

Gender Rather Than Productivity Explains Lower Pay for Women Partners, Study Suggests

Women partners are no less productive than their male counterparts when it comes to generating revenue per lawyer, but the women partners are paid less, a new study says. The study looked at gross revenues and profits at America’s 200 largest law firms from 2002 and 2007, using numbers from…

Sep 13, 2010 5:14 PM CDT

Is $75K the Lawyer Happiness Number? Shoes and ‘Life Assessment’ Part of Trade-off

Lawyers who give up big salaries should be comforted by a recent study showing that after reaching a household income of $75,000, people don’t become more happy with more money. The New York Times includes an example in its article: lawyers and others who pursue a field for high pay,…

Sep 13, 2010 2:51 PM CDT

$160K Pay for New Associates Is Still the BigLaw Norm in Many Cities, Survey Finds

The gap between private sector and public interest salaries for lawyers is “stark and alarming,” despite pay cuts at some large firms, according to a legal career organization. The median first-year base salary for law firm associates is $115,000, while the median pay for entry-level public interest lawyers ranges from…

Sep 9, 2010 12:49 PM CDT

Law Firm’s Innovative Recruiting Idea: Shift Summer Program to 3L Fall, Offer Remote Options

Amidst all the talk of a paradigm shift in law practice, law school recruiting has stayed much the same. But a 190-attorney Nashville-based law firm has launched a bold new approach that is capturing national attention. Instead of continuing with its traditional summer program, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis is…

Sep 9, 2010 12:20 AM CDT

New Pay Package Keeps Time Warner GC in Third Place

Time Warner’s general counsel has signed a new contract that pays him $1.25 million a year, plus a possible bonus of $2.5 million. The pay package puts Paul Cappaccio third on Corporate Counsel’s list of the top paid- general counsel, THR, Esq. reports. It also puts him ahead of his…

Sep 8, 2010 12:20 PM CDT

Study Finds Declining Lawyer Revenues, Gender Pay Gap at Small and Midsize Firms

Revenue per lawyer at small and midsize firms has dropped two years in a row, according to a new survey. In 2008, revenue per lawyer dropped by an average of almost 5 percent, and in 2009 it dropped by less than 1 percent, according to the survey by ALM Legal…

Sep 1, 2010 4:00 PM CDT

BigLaw’s ‘Cranky’ Midlevel Associates Are Dissatisfied with Pay and Benefits

Midlevel associates at America’s top 200 law firms survived the job cuts, but they haven’t been so dissatisfied since 2004, according to a new survey. One of their big complaints is compensation, the American Lawyer reports. Twenty-seven percent of associates surveyed said their benefits had been reduced in 2010, and…

Sep 1, 2010 12:44 PM CDT

Ex-Partner, 82, Sues High-Profile Divorce Firm, Claims Broken Pact to Support Him

A rift in a high-profile divorce law firm over compensation for an 82-year-old partner has resulted in a $26 million lawsuit. Norman Sheresky sued his former partners on Friday, claiming they had broken an oral promise to support him financially in the later years of his career, the New York…

Aug 30, 2010 11:44 AM CDT

$1.6M Award Upheld for Lawyer Who Sued His Firm for Fees

A Minnesota appeals court has upheld a $1.6 million award to a Minneapolis lawyer who sued his former law firm for a bigger cut of the fees in a securities class action against AOL Time Warner. The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the award for lawyer Brian Williams, but ruled…

Aug 26, 2010 2:12 PM CDT

Are Clients Squeezing BigLaw into Small Law?

Partners leaving big firms to go out on their own isn’t new, but it seems to be picking up. A growing reason is that clients have become more careful about spending. And lawyers can lower their rates after leaving BigLaw. Clients have clamored in recent years for reduced rates, fewer…

Aug 20, 2010 7:04 PM CDT

Ex-Associate Says ‘Unbillable Hours’ at Latham Made the Job Worthwhile

Having gone to law school at the University of Texas for lack of a better career option, Ian Graham turned out to be a stellar student. A BigLaw job was his virtually by right, and when Graham was interviewing, Latham & Watkins stood out, he recounts in a recently published…

Aug 17, 2010 11:02 AM CDT

Retired Wachtell Partner’s Prenup Precludes Share in 7-Figure Income for ‘Playmate’ Ex-Wife

A retired litigation partner at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz can keep the lion’s share of his income and assets after a brief marriage to a former Brazilian model he met at a “European Playmates” agency, a Connecticut appeals court has ruled. A prenuptial agreement between attorney Peter McKenna, 72,…

Aug 6, 2010 7:46 PM CDT

Good News for Star Associates, Bad News for Others: Bonuses are Replacing Some Pay

As law firms look to replace a significant portion of associate pay with discretionary bonuses, star associates may profit but others will lose ground financially, predicts the Boston Globe. Among the well-known law firms that are going this route is 700-attorney Nixon Peabody, at which bonuses amount to as much…

Aug 6, 2010 5:10 PM CDT

Some Baker Botts Associates Could See Pay Cuts in New Merit-Based Pay System

Some Baker Botts associates could see pay cuts after year-end reviews under a new merit-based compensation system that takes effect Jan. 1. Maria Boyce, partner-in-charge of the firm’s Houston office, spoke to Texas Lawyer about the change from a lockstep to a levels format. Associates will first be placed in…

Aug 2, 2010 12:32 PM CDT

Ex-BigLaw Associate Faces Ethics Case Over Alleged Nonpayment of $78K Student Loan

A graduate of the University of Chicago Law School who was being paid over $200,000 a year as an associate at DLA Piper in 2009 is facing a legal ethics complaint that alleges he failed to pay his guaranteed student loan debt. Olufemi Nicol, 42, is accused of bad-faith avoidance…

Jul 29, 2010 9:14 PM CDT