Lawyer Pay

BigLaw Associate Pay Should Be Cut to $125K or Even $100K, Consultant Says

Some big law firms are cutting annual pay for new associates from $160,000 to $145,000, but the cuts need to go deeper, according to a law firm consultant. Writing at Cotterman on Compensation, one of the consulting firm’s principals, Jim Cotterman, says pay is still out of line, and it…

Sep 8, 2009 4:53 PM CDT

Lowered Expectations Make Grads of Less Elite Schools Happier in BigLaw

Graduates of elite law schools are less satisfied with their jobs at large law firms than graduates of less selective schools, according two researchers for the American Bar Foundation. Researchers Ronit Dinovitzer and Bryant Garth offer a solution to the unhappy lawyer problem: BigLaw should try hiring more graduates from…

Sep 4, 2009 2:38 PM CDT

Associates at One Florida Law Firm Get Pay Hikes Averaging 8 Percent

One Florida law firm is bucking the lower-pay trend by giving its associates raises averaging 8 percent. The Orlando-based law firm GrayRobinson gave merit-based pay hikes to 90 percent of its associates, and some of the raises were as high as 15 percent, the Miami Daily Business Review reports. GrayRobinson…

Sep 3, 2009 6:35 PM CDT

Law Firm Leaders Should Meet Budgets or Take a Pay Cut, Ex-MP Says

Law firm leaders who miss budget projections for partner income should make up the difference through cuts in their own pay, a former managing partner says. Edwin Reeser, a business lawyer who was managing partner of the Los Angeles office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, says law firm leaders need…

Aug 31, 2009 5:59 PM CDT

Obama’s ‘Pay Czar’ Made $5.76M Last Year as a Law Firm Partner

The Obama administration’s “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg knows a thing or two about big paychecks. Feinberg earned $5.76 million last year as a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Feinberg Rozen, Reuters reports. His assets, including two homes each worth more than $1.5 million, are valued at between $11…

Aug 28, 2009 6:43 PM CDT

N.Y. Judge Restores Lawyer’s $106K Pension, Nixes $605K Repayment Order

Ordered to repay more than $600,000 in pension benefits which he allegedly was improperly paid over the past seven years, a New York lawyer has won at least a temporary reprieve from a state-court judge. Because the state comptroller’s office didn’t give attorney Albert D’Agostino proper notice and an opportunity…

Aug 27, 2009 9:44 PM CDT

WilmerHale Leader Is the Latest Fixed-Fees Convert

Law firms shouldn’t have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the world of fixed-fee billing. Firm leaders would do well to embrace the economic benefits of fixed fees, according to William Lee, the co-managing partner of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. The alternative billing arrangement “is an idea…

Aug 24, 2009 1:59 PM CDT

For One Law Firm, Canceled Summer Associate Program Is Old News

Check out the website for Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, and you’ll see this cryptic post on a page for summer associate recruiting: “The firm is not actively recruiting law students at this time.” Several law firms have announced cuts to their summer associate programs this year as they scramble…

Aug 21, 2009 6:49 PM CDT

Midlevel Associates Rank Wachtell Tops in Compensation, Benefits

Midlevel associates are most satisfied with their compensation and benefits at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and least satisfied at Thompson Hine, according to a recent survey. The Am Law Daily highlighted the finding from its survey of 6,100 associates at America’s 200 largest law firms. Wachtell recently nabbed the…

Aug 21, 2009 12:49 PM CDT

Baker & McKenzie PPP Down 17%, as Global Revenue Drops 3% to $2.11B

Over the past five years, megafirm Baker & McKenzie almost doubled its revenue. But last year didn’t go as well for the Chicago-based international goliath, which earns about two-thirds of its income outside the United States. A disastrous economy and a weak dollar combined to cut the firm’s global revenue…

Aug 14, 2009 10:18 PM CDT

New Lawyer Says Waitress Job Pays More than Small Law Firms

Recent law school graduate Bobbi-Sue Doyle-Hazard has discovered a sad reality as she works as a waitress at a Boston steak restaurant and goes on interviews for jobs at small law firms—her pay will likely drop when she finds legal work. She told the Boston Business Journal about one recent…

Aug 14, 2009 1:20 PM CDT

IP Firm Owes Me $92K in ‘Working Capital,’ Ex-Darby Lawyer Says in Suit

A New York-based intellectual property boutique allegedly agreed that Raj Davé would be repaid the $92,000 in “working capital” he gave Darby & Darby while practicing there as a nonequity partner, if he ever moved to another law firm, reports the Blog of Legal Times. But now that Davé is…

Aug 12, 2009 7:28 PM CDT

‘Kindest Cut’ at Perkins Coie: Only 3.8% Pay Reduction, No More Layoffs Expected

In a firmwide voice mail today that provided what amounts to good news in the current economy, the managing partner of Perkins Coie announced that there will be an average pay cut of 3.8 percent for law firm associates, effective Sept. 1, but no layoffs are expected. This is a…

Aug 5, 2009 9:37 PM CDT

With Glut of Laid-Off Lawyers, Temp Jobs are Harder to Find—and Pay Less

Despite an increase jobs for temporary attorneys as cost-cutting corporation clients seek to get the same work done for less than they would have to pay a law firm associate or partner, a glut of laid-off lawyers is making it harder to get this kind of work, too. A year…

Aug 4, 2009 8:32 PM CDT

Median Starting Pay for Law Firm Associates Peaks at $130K

Associates have another reason to be depressed: A survey that found their median starting pay is $130,000 likely represents the high-water mark for salaries of newly minted lawyers in private practice. Salary information for the survey by NALP, an association for legal career professionals, was collected as of April 1,…

Aug 3, 2009 1:59 PM CDT