Come on DLA!

Go Latham! Go Gibson! Go DLA!

Maybe I should buy a new car...

Anybody on the Associates Committee at Latham that can verify Latham is considering bumping the clerkship bonus to $50k?

Come on, some firm, any firm in Chicago. Match! Do it!

Let's go CHICAGO!!

WGWAG

NY TO 190!

Wake up rest of NJ, wake up

New York $190k or I'll quit.

Troop Steuber Pasich has raised.

Any word on whether these raises are going to apply to summer associates this year?

Why won't anyone in Texas budge? We are barely scraping by!

A word on the street is that DLA is holding a meeting today to discuss associate compensation and an increase in clerkship bonuses.

Any word on whether these raises are going to apply to summer associates this year?

come on Paul Hastings!! let's stick it to these east coast bastards

Dear NY190:

Please quit. Or better yet, just move somewhere where either: (1) the weather is much nicer than NYC (aka CA), (2) the people are much nicer that New Yorkers and the COL is a lot less (aka Chicago), or (3) the weather is a little bit nicer, the people are a little bit nicer, and the COL is only a little bit better (aka DC).

Best,
Your Enlightened Fellow Associates Outside NYC

NY is not going to raise to 190K and you should be thankful for it. There is already going to be a fallout within the next year (mass associate firings, firms collapsing, forced mergers, etc) due to firms raising to save face when MOST of them simply cannot sustain the hit (i.e. increased overhead) financially. Most of you are to young to remember when this happened after the silicon boom raises when this very trend led to a major recession in the legal market. History is repeating itself.

NY is not going to raise to 190K and you should be thankful for it. There is already going to be a fallout within the next year (mass associate firings, firms collapsing, forced mergers, etc) due to firms raising to save face when MOST of them simply cannot sustain the hit (i.e. increased overhead) financially. Most of you are too young to remember when this happened after the silicon boom raises when this very trend led to a major recession in the legal market. History is repeating itself.

Enlightened One -

If you were truly enlightened, you would recognize that at least half of the anonymous "190 in NY posters" are trolls who have discovered that repeatedly posting pisses you, and others, off. The correct solution is to not respond.

This is ALL about Lat. The firms just can't handle the transparency.

NY to 190.

This really is bad news for the legal profession and for associates who want to work for more than a year at BIGLAW.

Yeah, but a lot of the firms that went belly-up (e.g., Brobeck) had extremely flawed systems of billing (i.e., taking stock in the companies they were representing).

Firms certainly will feel the hit when the economy slows, but the big difference today is that their clients are 25-year old, but large, deep-pocketed institutions who are actually paying bills.

2 tiers in DC.

Agreed 3:43... somebody mentioned in an earlier thread that we should all send Lat $5.

If he setup a paypal it wouldn't be a bad idea (I've already got a business method patent pending so, David, please find me for my licensing fee, say 10% of the gross? ;) ). Sort of a market based reward for increasing knowledge? Surely the law & econ types would love such a thing.

To be a law student today is nice with ATL doing all the work for you. Back in the day (of, you know, 2 years ago) Greedy did some of this but I don't feel like it had the authority and readership that ATL does...

I say 190 in NY because NY attorneys are typically made to work harder and it is more expensive to live here.

Most NY attorneys I know don't live here for the splendor that is NY, they live here because they can make more money. If NY attorneys no longer make more money than those in LA, for instance, then those posters that say they should leave NY are correct.

All it takes is one:

Covington, Wilmer or H&H

This really is bad news for the legal profession and for associates who want to work for more than a year at BIGLAW.

yeah,.,HORRIBLE NEWS for people in biglaw

*slaps 3:53 across the face*

yeah,.,HORRIBLE NEWS for people in biglaw

*slaps 3:53 across the face*

Paul Hastings matches. Retroactive to May 1.

CA offices, Chicago and DC.

Paul Hastings just raised to 160.

Everyone is falling into line. Gibson and DLA no longer have a choice.

No kidding! Now it makes me feel really bad that my firm is dragging its feet!!! Congratulations to PH associates.

How will this affect Chicago? It seems that the major Chicago firms (Kirkland, Sidley, Mayer) must either match or accept 2d tier status. Any thoughts?

We are pleased to announce that the Firm will be increasing base-level salaries for U.S. Associates in California, Chicago and Washington D.C.. This increase will be reflected in the May 25, 2007 paycheck, retroactive to May 1.

FY2008 Compensation by Class Year and Office is as follows:

Seniority Year
Class year
California, Chicago & WDC

Entering
2007
160,000

1st
2006
160,000

2nd
2005
170,000

3rd
2004
185,000

4th
2003
210,000

5th
2002
230,000

6th
2001
250,000

7th
2000
265,000

8th+
1999
280,000

We thank you for and commend your performance, commitment and hard work throughout the year and your contributions to our success.

Please feel free to contact us or your local Attorney Development Committee Chair or Office Chair if you have any questions.

4:06 - which firm is that?

It is pretty amusing how angry some of you get because certain trolls call for NY to move to $190k. Why does it bother you so much? When NY moved to $160k, wasn't everyone in every other city posting that firms in DC, Cali, Chicago, etc. need to move to $145k or $160k? And what was your reasoning then? Only that they should move higher because NY moved higher. Of course, just because NY moved higher does not actually mean anyone in any other city is or is not entitled to a higher salary. But the New Yorkers didn't try to keep you down.

And so, now, naturally, NY people are going to advocate for even higher salaries. Again, why does this bother you so? Your resentment of NY plainly reveals your inferiority complex.

I'm in L.A. but I'm all for higher NY salaries. It inevitably means higher salaries for us. I don't care that my colleagues in NYC make more than me if their raises mean I get to make more money too.

Stop being so worried about who makes more - focus on getting as much as you can for yourself. NY at 190 would be great for everybody.

NJ firms are moving to 160 now? Time to move to the burbs and leave NY...unless they move to 190!

Actually, 4:10, their inferiority complex comes from working for second-tier pay in DC. Equal work, less pay. If NY went to $190 then the first-tier DC firms would move to $190 too, and then A&P, HH and the rest would be REALLY far behind.

Kirkland will move first in Chicago due to pressure in L.A. and D.C. Mayer and Sidley will follow.

Kirkland will move first in Chicago due to pressure in L.A. and D.C. Mayer and Sidley will follow, though either one could score serious points by moving first.

DC people take it easy. There is no doubt that the DC firms will raise now. There are way too many firms now at 160 for Covington, Wilmer and AP to stay put. By my count, around 500 lawyers have been bumped to the NY scale in the past week alone. And once they bump, you can expect another bump from Williams and Connolly also.

NJ firms are moving to 160 now? Time to move to the burbs and leave NY...unless they move to 190!

4:10 - as a Cali person, I'm perfectly happy for NY to move to 175K, 190K, or whatever the market can bear. I also have no gripe if NYC people get paid more. I'm not sure that y'all work longer hours across the board, but you certainly have a higher cost of living and your market can support higher salaries. Nor would a higher salary (even a 190K/160K difference) inspire me to move to NYC. I'm happy where I am, and for a year out of law school, I'm paid as much (and more) than I necessarily "deserve."

So, no inferiority complex. NYC compensation committee partners, by all means, if you're reading ATL prior to making your salary decisions, here's another vote for 190K and beyond in NYC, even if I never see a penny of it on the Left Coast.

That said, I wish that the NY trolls would lay off:
(1) The entitlement complex. A sky high COL does not mean you "deserve" to be paid more than people in also-expensive markets. Cheer us CA types on when we get more money, and we're right there rooting for y'all to be as well paid as possible too.
(2) Posting comments with nothing more than "NY=190K". That's annoying not because of the content but because it simply adds nothing to the otherwise-interesting discussion in the comments.

Altheimer & Gray has gone to $160K in Chicago.

I repeat my offer to send Lat $5.

FRESNO = $95K!!!!!!

I'm in for $5 too.

Paul Hastings Raised to 160 per the greedy LA board.

4:21 -- Agreed on all points.

Thoughts on whether SF firms like Thelen will raise to the new bar???

I'll send $5 to Lat.

4:38 - How does never work for you?

Not sure 4:38... Myself, I am more interested if this is going to bump the native SV shops (Cooley, WSGR, et al.)

I think they didn't go earlier since there weren't that many associates in that area at $160. However, with Orrick, Latham, and MoFo all going to $160 GDC will have to follow. Will these three (four) be big enough to push Cooley, WSGR, and say Fenwick over the top? Here's hoping.

Lists of Fame:

CA:
1) Quinn
2) O'Melveny
3) Orrick
4) MoFo (assuming their bonus structure is good - needs confirmation)
5) Latham
6) Paul Hastings

Chicago:
1) Skadden
2) Latham
3) Paul Hastings

DC:
1) Latham
2) Paul Hastings

Is that correct? Add to the lists of fame if I've missed any.

CA:
1) Quinn
2) O'Melveny
3) Orrick
4) MoFo (assuming their bonus structure is good - needs confirmation)
5) Latham
6) Paul Hastings

Chicago:
1) Skadden
2) Latham
3) Paul Hastings

DC:
1) Latham
2) Paul Hastings
3) Skadden

Skadden raised?

OMM and MoFo raised in DC as well.

4:47 - You qualified MoFo with "assuming their bonus structure is good - needs confirmation." I think this applies to everyone on the list. At this point the bonus structure is going to be the only thing separating these firms. Lets have people post what they know about bonuses after these raises have gone into effect and how they know them (memo, word of mouth, etc.).

So 2 of the big 4 SF-based law firms raised. What's gonna happen to Heller and Pillsbury? And all the firms with sub-$1m PPPs?

Nice Work LW. I wonder what other Chicago firms do now?

Kirkland and Sidley.

long time reader, first time poster:

NY to 190!!

Gibson matched

I think If everyone really were to give LAT 5 dollars he should give at least some to charity.

Does anyone know if Cadwalader is planning on raising clerkship bonuses? I haven't seen much information regarding where they stand.

Does anyone know if Cadwalader is planning on raising clerkship bonuses? I haven't seen much information regarding where they stand.

Does anyone know if Cadwalader is planning on raising clerkship bonuses? I haven't seen much information regarding where they stand.

Any bets on Wilson Sonsini?