Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: A Few More Memos
A quick reminder: We want your memos. We hear rumors of associate pay raises at particular firms all the time, but we generally don't treat the news as official until we see a memorandum (assuming there is one). Please send them to us by email.
We reprint below two memos that arrived in our inbox not too long ago. First, there's a memo from LeBoeuf Lamb, placing their associates in Hartford -- recently covered here -- on the $160K scale.
Second, there's a memo from Foley & Lardner. It has raised its starting salary to $160,000, but not effective until September 2007, and it's not following the standard $160K scale all the way up the ladder. Our source wrote:
Attached is the memo Foley & Lardner circulated today regarding adjustments to compensation. This was circulated a day after a separate memo from management announcing the increases and advising that management would review compensation prior to the beginning of the next fiscal year and would consider making modifications to amounts and structures at that time.Management also referenced in the memo "exploring alternative career paths for associates," but provided no additional information as to what that means.
Sounds a tad Orwellian to us. "Alternative career paths" = flipping burgers in the Foley cafeteria? But maybe we're just being paranoid.
If you're interested, you can check out the memos after the jump.
LEBOEUF LAMB GREEN & MACRAE -- HARTFORD -- ASSOCIATE PAY RAISE MEMO
FOLEY & LARDNER ASSOCIATE PAY RAISE MEMO
(51) Comments
first!!!! Wow, what compression by Foley! First and second years make the same pay?
are you an idiot? The 2007 associates haven't started yet.
...maybe there is compression, but is it only a 7 year p'ship track? I'll take that. Beats Jones Day: paying non-first years below market and requiring a T*E*N (10!) year p'ship track.
what's foley milwaukee at?
Is Hartford in the United States.
Is Hartford in the United States?
what is foley doing in milwaukee?
does jones day have a two tiered partnership track, cause foley does.
When is that jackass going to post the CA list of shame?
it's not really compression at all for foley...in fact, on the 1950 track (which is obviously the one to look at--very few firms that are on the 160 scale have a lower target than that) the numbers are actually higher than market for the first coupla years. what are you people talking about????
It's a misnomer. After you finish out the associate ranks you sit in a pond that they call "Senior Counsel" for a MINIMUM 2 years.
Even at 1950, the salary is $10k lower than the other firms. C'mon.
Is it true that Cahill Gordon pays above market bonuses?
Foley's 1850 scale looks like the BigLaw scale in Atlanta... only in Atlanta, it starts at 130k instead of 160k and billables start at 1950.
Man, Atlanta is looking like a sweeter deal by the minute....
I hear Dow Lohnes raised to the standard 160K scale for both D.C. and Atlanta offices today.
FYI: Foley's IP associate compensation is the same as the above table for all offices. Heh heh. You guys should've gone for that engineering undergrad degree.
Updated DC and Cal. lists of shame, please!
10.17, I did. :)
WOW ... that's amazing. So, if you're a senior associate, and you worked an extra 100 hours the prior year ... you get an extra 50K ... that's $500 per hour!!! What the hell are their rates for associates!!!
David, any rumors about when/if Williams & Connolly will raise?
Or, let's rephrase ... if you barely miss that 1950 mark ... you get docked 50K of pay ... that's just plain mean ...
It is a strange system. As 10:47 notes, the marginal value of that last 100 hours is awfullly high. Perhaps Foley assumes or understands that there aren't many people close to 1950 (that the folks on that track will be billing 2200, not 1957).
Foley pays no year-end bonuses
You guys see this article?
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.iplawyers26jun26,0,1577627.story?page=2&coll=bal-business-headlines
It says that IP Associates can expect 10-15% over market at bigfirms. I work at a bigfirm that doesn't do this. Any idea who does?
More evidence that lawyers have no idea how to run a business. Foley's system is just jaw-droping stupid.
As compared to the standard BigLaw scale, as represented in the LeBouf memo, Foley salaries look better in the first 3 years and then the compression catches up in year 4. Seems like a strange approach to overpay the lower-skilled juniors and underpay the seniors. Looks like Foley will be generating a nice pool of mid-level laterals for other firms.
By the way, what is "Investment Time"?
Lat - Can you confirm that Mayer Brown raised to 160 in Charlotte? What about Dechert, Cadwalader and Hunton?
Dow Lohnes raised today in DC and Atlanta to $160k.
The Lebeouf thing is pretty remarkable actually. They paid jack sh*t in Hartford (compared to their peer national firms) for many years and were supposedly considering closing that office down. Now, evidently things are good. The mid-levels and seniors there are getting close to a $80-90K raise out of this. that's got to be the biggest single raise we have seen anywhere.
Did Perkins Coie raise in DC? What about Baker McKenzie and Greenberg in DC?
I, too, am curious about Williams & Connolly. Any rumors? Any thoughts?
Yeah, LeBouef really came up huge for those 12 associates in Hartford, including the 11th year and the 12th year associates.
So they basically decided to pay the existing associates more in lieu of hiring one (or maybe two) laterals. Big deal.
This is what I've got:
DC Vault of Shame(still at 145,000)
40. Baker Botts
44. Baker & McKenzie
50. Fulbright & Jaworski
58. Vinson & Elkins
59. Alston & Bird
64. Holland & Knight
66. Bingham McCutchen
70. Hunton & Williams
71. Patton Boggs
74. Kirkpatrick Lockhart
75. Nixon Peabody
77. Bryan Cave
79. Crowell & Moring
86. McGuire Woods
88. Arent Fox
93. Kilpatrick Stockton
95. Dickstein
96. Venable
Vault of Extreme Shame(still at 135,000)
87. Squire Sanders
Yeah, I remember interviewing with Foley and the IP people in Milwaukee were making a good 20 grand more than anyone else in the office, and that was just starting salaries. It's probably at least that now. Really thought about going there, as I am in IP.
paying IP lawyers above scale is routine in midwest amlaw 100/amlaw200 firms.
I like green shoes.
I understand the conventional wisdom that BB will not move in Texas unless VE does, b/c that's how it's always been. But why in the world aren't they moving in DC? The going rate for associates has been set. They don't need VE to show them the way. Raise already!
Williams and Connolly and Jones Day BOTH deserve a place on the vault of shame. 160K base + no bonus = 145K base plus bonus.
Dude, your Vault of Shame is really out of date - needs alot of work. I am pretty sure Alston and Bingham should come off and a handful of others don't look right to me either
Baker McKenzie has still NOT raised in DC.
Supposedly, all of Greenberg Traurig, Foley, and Baker & McKenzie raised?
Continuing CA List of Shame:
1) Bryan Cave
2) Holland & Knight
3) Nixon Peabody
Permanent All City List of Shame
1) Seyfarth Shaw for planning not to raise.
i know dickstein raised in DC, and didn't bingham as well?
Alston raising in DC is news to me... I am almost positive they haven't gone yet.
11:04--investment time is a combination of working on firm committees, pro bono and other stuff you can't bill for...
11:04--you're right on. This was the big complaint in most Foley offices, and the new compensation scheme has only made it worse. Granted, Foley associates have much less billable pressure than associates at other firms; but the higher you rise, the more intense the pressure gets. No one makes it to partner billing 1850 (or even 1950).
10:58 - Foley does pay year-end bonuses to associates who bill higher than 1950 and to associates who earn discretionary bonuses for substantial nonbillable commitments.
Is it difficult to hit the 2100 (1950 + 150) threshold. That is basically the same threshold Mayer has in chicago (2000 + 100) and its not to hard to hit (i.e the work is there if you want it). Assuming you can hit the bogey, the pay in for 2nd and 3rd year associates is higher than the big firms in Chicago and NY. Are there no bonuses? Will other firms respond by raising 2nd and 3rd year salares?
Hartford's List:
160k
Bingham McCutchen
Dechert
Leboeuf
145k
Brown Rudnick
130K
Axinn, Veltrop
Edwards Angel
115k
Jorden Brut
105K
Thelen Reed
100K
Day Pitney
95K
Murtha Cullina
Robinson & Cole
Shipman & Goodwin
Wiggin & Dana
LeBoeuf's 60k raise is pretty amazing. THere may be only 12 associates there but for those 12 that had to be a pretty good day
10:58 - Foley indeed pays bonuses, as someone else mentioned. At 2050 you get 5%, 2150 gets 10%, 2250 gets 15% and 2350 gets 20%; the percentage is of the 1950 salary. There are also discretionary bonuses given.
11:04 - investment time does not include pro bono; Foley counts 60 pro bono hours as billable. Investment time is traditionally professional development, marketing, and recruiting.
2:32 - people at Foley do make partner billing 1950, 1850, and even less annually. It really depends what department you are in; some rely more on brining in business or having a niche practice; others to hours. Some positions don't lend themselves to high hours and other things are considered.
10:58 - Foley indeed pays bonuses, as someone else mentioned. At 2050 you get 5%, 2150 gets 10%, 2250 gets 15% and 2350 gets 20%; the percentage is of the 1950 salary. There are also discretionary bonuses given.
11:04 - investment time does not include pro bono; Foley counts 60 pro bono hours as billable. Investment time is traditionally professional development, marketing, and recruiting.
2:32 - people at Foley do make partner billing 1950, 1850, and even less annually. It really depends what department you are in; some rely more on bringing in business or having a niche practice; others on hours. Some positions don't lend themselves to high hours and other things are considered.