Biglaw, Money, Reader Polls, Skaddenfreude

ATL Reader Poll: We Know How Much You Make. But How Hard Do You Work?

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We love reader polls; it’s interesting to take the pulse of an informed electorate. We have two polls currently running, both about the celebrated case of Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell. To vote in those polls (or to change your vote if you previously voted), click here and here.
Now we bring you a third poll, related to the other big story in Biglaw: associate pay raises. A reader sent this message to us:

Would you consider a poll asking how many hours people at the biglaw firms who just received salary comps are working? I’m at a second-tier biglaw firm (am law 100 with nyc, dc, cali offices + regional markets) that’s considering what to do with compensation.

The reluctance to matching [the $160K payscale] is expressed as “associates at those firms just bill more hours than our associates do.” An empirical — though not necessarily scientific — survey would be helpful to confirm or debunk that position.

We like this idea. So, if you’re now on what we’ll dub the “$160,000 Simpson Thacher pay scale,” please take the poll that appears below. Three caveats/comments:

1. We realize there are divergences in salary at higher levels. We’re going to ignore them for now. If you’re on some variant of the “$160K, $170K, etc.” pay scale, you’re eligible to vote.

2. If you are NOT on the $160K payscale, please do NOT vote — even if you just got a pay raise (e.g., from $135K to $145K). One goal of this poll is to determine how hard a “$160,000 Associate” works (and whether she works that much harder than, say, a “$145,000 Associate”). That goal would be frustrated by participation of non-$160K associates.

3. Our standard caveat about our polls: We realize that “ineligible” voters might vote, that this poll is highly unscientific, etc. That’s okay; nothing turns on this poll. It’s just for the proverbial “s**ts and giggles.”

Without further ado, here’s the poll:

Earlier: Previous announcements of law firm associate salary increases (scroll down through “Skaddenfreude” archives)

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