Alston & Bird, Biglaw, Bonuses, King & Spalding, Money, Skaddenfreude

Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: The Lay of the Land in Atlanta

By  
on

As we reported earlier this week, the Atlanta office of Paul Hastings has adopted a new pay scale, with a starting salary of $160,000.
The Fulton County Daily Report picks up the news today. It’s not new, since it was announced on Wednesday. But the article, by Meredith Hobbs, has a nice round-up of where things stand in the Atlanta market, post-Paul Hastings:

Like most of their competitors, Paul Hastings paid first-years $130,000 in 2007, the rate established by last spring’s round of pay raises. The firm had delayed unveiling its response to the increase to $145,000 triggered by Alston & Bird in August (with smaller raises up the classes) until now.

Paul Hastings’ new pay scale goes from $160,000 for first-years — the current market rate for first-years in more expensive cities such as Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York — to $215,000 for seventh-years.

By comparison, King & Spalding announced in October a 2008 scale starting at $145,000 for first-years and going to $195,000 for seventh-years. At that time, King & Spalding established a richer bonus system, which upped pay for first-years receiving bonuses to $152,500, and star seven-years to as high as $250,000.

Paul Hastings does not calculate bonuses until after the end of its fiscal year, so associate bonuses correlating to 2008 compensation will not be determined until the end of February 2009, said Philip J. Marzetti, the firm’s Atlanta managing partner.

More excerpts and discussion, after the jump.


Atlanta associates often bemoan their financial fate. But the glass may be half-full:

Big firm associate pay has skyrocketed in Atlanta over the past two years — from a starting salary of $100,000 at the end of 2005 to $115,000 in 2006 and then, after two raises in 2007, to $145,000….

Before Paul Hastings’s announcement to its associates Wednesday, Atlanta first-year pay had already increased 45 percent in two years. The firm’s decision to further increase first-year pay comes as the economy slows and local in-house counsel are expressing concern over higher rates for junior associates.

Will the PH raise have a ripple effect? Some are not so sure:

Several Atlanta recruiters doubted Paul Hastings’ local competitors would be willing to match the firm’s pay gambit.

“Considering the economy and that associates are being laid off in the mortgage-backed securities business, it’s unlikely that other firms in town will raise again. There have already been three raises in two years,” said [Rafaelle Murdocca of BCG Attorney Search].

Paul Hastings’ raises may separate the firm from the pack, but they won’t be good for the local market, said legal recruiter Raj M. Nichani, vice president of Hughes & Sloan. “If this trickles down and King & Spalding and the other big boys try and go to $160,000, it will throw the market for a loop.”

“Who is going to pay for it?” he said….

Paul Hastings has 56 associates here. King & Spalding has 175, and Alston & Bird has 196. Neither firm responded to requests for comment on the move by press time….

[David] Gruskin [said] that Paul Hastings is making a “strong statement.” “This move certainly has folks like us in the industry talking about Paul Hastings,” he said.

Sponsored

These are just excerpts. Read the whole thing over here.
We know how ATL readers love to talk about ATL. The recent Paul Hastings post generated 250+ comments. If that comment clusterf**k hasn’t satisfied you, sound off in the comments to this post.
Paul Hastings Leapfrogs Pack With Pay Hike for Atlanta Associates [Fulton County Daily Report via Law.com]
Earlier: Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Paul Hastings to $160K in Atlanta

Sponsored

Bonus Time

Enter your email address to sign up for ATL's Bonus & Salary Increase Alerts.

Topics