Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: More Announcements, and Weekend Open Thread
Thanks for your responses to our recent call for memos. Here are two more firms that have announced associate pay raises:
1. Crowell & Moring: Starting salaries to $160,000, effective August 1. Minimum billables to 1900 hours, effective September 1. Associates who do not wish to meet the new minimum are invited to reach “alternative arrangements” with the firm.2. Dow Lohnes: No, Rupert Murdoch is not trying to buy them. Dow Lohnes is an AmLaw 200 law firm with a significant presence in Atlanta. Will their move to the $160K scale encourage other Atlanta firms to follow suit?
Full memos, after the jump.
CROWELL & MORING ASSOCIATE PAY RAISE MEMO
As many of you know, several peer firms throughout the city have recently moved their starting associate salaries to $160,000. We have discussed this move with partners, associates and counsel in all of our U.S.-based offices over the past several weeks. Our goal has been to find a solution for our firm that would allow us to: (i) recruit and retain the best and brightest legal talent; (ii) ensure that promotional opportunities would remain open to all; and (iii) preserve our culture of flexibility and balance. To these ends, the Management Board has approved the following compensation and hours system:
- Effective August 1, the firm will raise its starting associate salaries to $160,000. It will increase the salaries of second year lawyers to $170,000, and will adjust the salaries of other associates and counsel as well, taking into account performance.
- Effective September 1, the firm will increase the minimum billable hour requirement to 1900 hours. This new hours requirement will bring us closer to, but still below, the hours expectation at competitive firms across the city.
We appreciate the challenge that the higher billable hour requirement may create and will work collaboratively to accommodate individual lawyers who either cannot, or do not wish to, satisfy the higher hour requirement. Should you be interested in such an accommodation, you should speak directly with the chair(s) of your practice group. The practice groups will partner with the LDC to ensure that our alternative arrangements meet the groups’ business needs as well as your personal needs. To ensure that we implement appropriate compensation adjustments on August 1, we will need to have any alternative arrangements in place by July 18.
Should you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly.
Ellen
Ed. note: Ellen Dwyer is chair of Crowell & Moring’s Lawyer Development Committee. She reports to the firm’s Management Committee.
DOW LOHNES ASSOCIATE PAY RAISE MEMO
(52) Comments
Comments
Significant presence in Atlanta is a bit of a stretch...
But it's still embarrassing that you can go to some firm nobody has heard of in Atlanta and make $160K, while the big boys in Atlanta are paying way less.
10:12 -- And even more embarassing that the NYC market is paying the same amount as them.
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
86. McGuire Woods
88. Arent Fox
93. Kilpatrick Stockton
96. Venable
this is getting really ugly for some of these firms ... hopefully crowell matching will give them a kick in the ass
Bell, Boyd & Lloyd in Chicago raised to $160,000 effective July 1.
Is there a Bell, Boyd memo? I'm curious to see their compression.
Interesting that so many firms are starting to factor performance into salary. Seems like it will just create associate strife and label certain people as partnership material and other people as not. I say pay everyone the same salary for their class year (and perhaps differentiate with bonus), and just fire the people who aren't good enough.
since when is 33 people a significant presence? anyway, they have always paid higher than the other atlanta firms.
um, everyone in atlanta has heard of dow lohnes.
Commenters have reported that Greenberg Traurig and Baker & McKenzie raised and are no longer girlie men. The firms who do not raise will be terminated:
The Kahlifornya 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.
Lat,
Nice job bringing some transparency to law firm salaries and clerkship bonuses.
I'm hoping you can also bring some much needed transparency to when in the calendar year each firm elevates its associate classes to the next step on the pay scale. Is there some uniformity among firms (January 1) or does it vary considerably?
C'mon - quit leaving W&C off the top of the list.
DC Vault of Shame(still at 145,000)
17. Williams & Connolly ($165k, no bonus)
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
86. McGuire Woods
88. Arent Fox
93. Kilpatrick Stockton
96. Venable
Where is the updated Portsmouth list of shame? Seriously, we got so close to it this week.
Portsmouth List of Shame:
1) Long Johnson Peters Dixon, Cox
2) Dixon Yermouth
3) Two WASPs and a Jew
JONES DAY SHOULD BE ON THE LIST - 160K NO BONUS
New Title:
DC Not Interested in Competing for Talent
17. Williams & Connolly ($165k, no bonus)
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
86. McGuire Woods
88. Arent Fox
93. Kilpatrick Stockton
96. Venable
98. Kelley Drye
3:45 -- just go back and read the various comment threads. It varies considerably and, IMO, is not something to get too worked up over since it's a one-time thing.
So DC, LA, SF et al. have surrendered the cl3rkship market to NY? They pay below NYC's market, yet no so much as a peep from the litigation associates in those "first tier" cities.
add Seyfarth Shaw to DC list of shame
CHICAGO LIST OF SHAME:
Bell Boyd (??)
Brinks Hofer
Chapman & Cutler
Drinker Biddle
Foley
Greenberg Traurig
Goldberg Kohn
Holland & Knight
Jones Day
Kaye Scholer
Lock Lord Bissell Liddell
McGuire Woods
Perkins Coie
Seyfarth
Vedder Price
Wildman Harrold
4:55 -
Add Foley to that list. The compression after 3rd year is insane. And no, there is not enough work to keep everybody busy enough to bill 1950 - so the crap about "you can choose" whether to have a life or not is just that - crap.
5:13 - I guess I didn't do a good job explaining my question. I don't want to know when firms are implementing the latest pay raise, or when it is retroactive from. Rather, I'm wondering whether firms are uniform in when they start their fiscal years. Do all firms elevate first year associates to second year status at the same time, or does this vary by firm?
9:07 - I've been looking around for this info myself, and I can't find anyone talking about it anywhere. If anyone knows either standard practice or firm specifics for this, that would be great.
North Vernon, Ind. to 13K and the rest of you to HELL!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
THIS SITE IS LOSING ITS EDGE!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA
- Chris
Jones Day in Chicago - don't go there. Save your self the time and the stress.
They are all jerks there. The lowest of the low... and low paying. Very cheap in what they do. Cutting corners left and right. Treat everyone who's not a partner like crap. They will backstab you.
Office Admin - Orla McIvor is a bitch! She treats everyone like shit. She's only out for her own monetary gain. She's rude, has no manners and is not professional, unless you are a partner. Then she kisses your ass and whatever else you want her to do.
Don't say I didn't warn you!!
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody. Every great song by the Beach Boys. All the underground hits. All the Modern Lovers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Niagra record on German import. I heard that you have a white label of every seminal Detroit techno hit - 1985, '86, '87. I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator and are throwing your computer out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Yaz record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables.
I hear that you and your band have sold your turntables and bought guitars.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records? This Heat, Pere Ubu, Outsiders, Nation of Ulysses, Mars, The Trojans, The Black Dice, Todd Terry, the Germs, Section 25, Althea and Donna, Sexual Harrassment, a-ha, Pere Ubu, Dorothy Ashby, PIL, the Fania All-Stars, the Bar-Kays, the Human League, the Normal, Lou Reed, Scott Walker, Monks, Niagra, Joy Division, Lower 48, the Association, Sun Ra, Scientists, Royal Trux, 10cc, Eric B. and Rakim, Index, Basic Channel, Soulsonic Force ("just hit me"!), Juan Atkins, David Axelrod, Electric Prunes, Gil! Scott! Heron!, the Slits, Faust, Mantronix, Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines, the Swans, the Soft Cell, the Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics.
Add Greenberg Traurig to the DC list of shame.
3:37 - Is the GT Raise CA only or nationwide?
You can take Bell Boyd off the Chicago list of shame. They raised to 160 on Friday.
Compensation in Atlanta become more shameful by the day....
White Girls With Asian Guys, of course
You can take Bingham off the DC list of shame - LAT posted the salary increase memo a few weeks ago.
You can take Foley off the Chicago list of shame too.
Seriously, why no in-house counsel pay thread? All these raises make it more worthwhile to endure the hell of law firms.
Why no IP pay thread? Engr school + law school equals more than a poli sci major.
Bell Boyd moved to 160. No word on the extent of compression.
Wildman Harrold still pays 135 and is desperate to merge. The firm has increased billing rates substantially to prop up its PPP, so associate comp is destined to remain stagnant. Management has displayed no interest in keeping even remotely competitive on salaries, taking the "we're not Kirkland" line. Duh -- a lot of firms that aren't Kirkland have increased salaries, but WHAD doesn't pay a single associate in excess of $200k.
After the Reed Smith debacle (look -- Sachnoff to 160!), maybe some other firm will come to the rescue. In the meantime, I hear that the Ritz has a great cheese platter.
6.14, just one more example how this pay raise issue is differentiating true quality firms from the also-rans.
I guess Wildman Harrold doesn't care.
NYC to 190!
NYC to 190!
Chicago office looks to remain on the list of shame for the time being. I haven't heard of focus groups in the pipeline, but you never know. Looks like Seyfarth Chicago will have to settle for second tier recruiting...
9:07 & 11:14 -- Sorry for the misunderstanding. I don't have any hard stats, but I do know that firms will usually adjust compensation and elect partners at the beginning of their fiscal years, which do vary from firm to firm. Many may have a 12/31 FY-end, but many do not -- for example, you can get an 11-month tax deferral on partnership income if the firm's FY ends in January. And it's not unheard of for individual associates to see their pay and/or partnership status change during the year, although it is the exception rather than the rule.
CHICAGO LIST OF SHAME:
Brinks Hofer
Chapman & Cutler
Drinker Biddle
Greenberg Traurig
Goldberg Kohn
Holland & Knight
Jones Day
Kaye Scholer
Lock Lord Bissell Liddell
McGuire Woods
Perkins Coie
Seyfarth
Vedder Price
Wildman Harrold
NYC to 190!
Atlanta to $145k!!!
This is actually good news for NY--Atlanta and NY cannot have the same salaries!!!! NY to 200k.
half those firms aren't supposed to be on the Chicago list of shame anymore, you idiot
Jones Day is not on the list of shame.
It's my understanding that the Jackson, MS market, which has been stuck in the low 90's, has recently jumped to $101k.
For comparison purposes, Salary.com indicates that there is a +174.5% increase in cost of living between NYC and Jackson. Therefore, $101k here is equivalent to $277,259!
http://swz.salary.com/costoflivingwizard/layoutscripts/coll_result.asp?presentsalary=101000&presenthomemetrocode=78&presentworkmetrocode=78&newhomemetrocode=119&newworkmetrocode=119&x=29&y=7
Howrey’s First-Year Texas Associates Earn $160,000
By Anne K. McMillan
Texas Lawyer
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Washington, D.C.-based Howrey has bumped its starting salaries for first-year associates up to $160,000, effective July 1, Houston managing partner Steve Cagle says. The 635-lawyer firm also is ramping up work on a new merit-based compensation plan that will replace the old lockstep system of providing raises.
“I really love the fact that people are going to be able to make the choice of their own career path,” Cagle says. He notes that the merit-based plan will provide associates with choices they’ve indicated they want — accommodating those who want to bill 2,400 hours per year and make partner as quickly as possible as well as those who want to bill 1,900 hours per year and have a life outside the firm.
In addition, Cagle says, the merit-based system will “place a lot of pressure on the partners in the firm. . . . [It] represents a significant commitment on the part of partnership to get more involved in associate development.”
Focus groups, including several to be held in the 60-lawyer Houston office, outside consultants and the firm’s powers that be are working out factors for the merit-based system, which likely will include criteria such as productivity, quality and entrepreneurship.
Cagle expects the system to be in place by the first of the year.
I'm still interested in Bell Boyd's post-first year salaries. Anyone have the scoop?
Don't get your hopes up ATLers. Confirmed that A&B has voted to raise to $145K as of Jan 1 2008. Compressed.
By ATLers I meant people in Atlanta, not above the lawers.
it's funny looking back at this "list of shame". how many firms that jumped to 160 have now frozen? goldberg kohn didn't go to 160, but now hasn't frozen either (if you hit certain hours can receive "regular" salary increase and then regular bonus and merit bonus at hours above that. just goes to show you that the market for compensation is fragmenting into many places. maybe people will actually start evaluating firms on something other than just salary.