Skaddenfreude: Hogan & Hartson Loves New York

From the D.C.-based Legal Times:

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom said Wednesday it would increase its first-year associate salaries [in Washington] to $160,000, following in the footsteps of New York-based Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Skadden is the first law firm with a major D.C. presence to up the ante for associate pay in Washington. The firm has 263 lawyers in the District.

D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson has also announced it is moving associate salaries in its New York office to $160,000, but it doesn’t plan to do the same in Washington as of yet.

So in New York, it looks like all the biggies will be following suit. But expect a divide to open up in D.C. between the “national” firms and the local shops:

[M]ost D.C. firms are staying quiet about whether or not they’ll follow. Karl Racine, managing partner of Venable’s Washington office, which pays first-year associates $135,000, says he “expects that to remain.”

You can read the rest of Nate Carlile and Anna Palmer’s article here.
Skadden Raises Associate Pay [Legal Times]
Earlier: Previous announcements of law firm associate salary increases (scroll down through “Skaddenfreude” archives)

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