Salary Freeze, Skaddenfreude

Latham & Watkins Salary Shenanigans Follow-Up

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Maybe Latham & Watkins was never into this whole “____ to $160K” thing to begin with. When Latham finally raised salaries across the board back in May 2007, we reported:

Well, it appears that Latham has been shamed into giving into the “hysteria” surrounding associate comp.

As we’ve discussed, Latham’s associate salary freeze essentially cancels out the pay raise from 2007. Whether you call it a salary freeze or a pay cut, Latham chairman Robert Dell is calling it sound business. The Blog of the Legal Times reported this quote from the chairman earlier today:

We are modifying associate compensation as part of a prudent business strategy in the face of challenging economic times. All associates moving to the next class year on January 1, 2009 will continue to receive the same base compensation as they received in 2008. We are confident that our business strategy, our diverse practices and our strong global platform will serve our clients and our firm well as we all face the challenges of a difficult business environment in 2009.

More discussion, including a salary chart that Lat prepared to show just how bad L&W associates must be feeling today, after the jump.


Challenging economic times is one thing. Deflation? That is a different problem altogether. After the 2007 raises, a fourth-year L&W associate made $210,000. Today, rising fourth-years are looking at $185,000.

And those numbers do not take into account the depressed bonuses associates are likely to experience.

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Lat prepared the following chart to show how the new Latham associate salary scale compares to that of a typical top New York law firm:

Stanford, Boalt, are you guys paying attention? Some of your graduates might need a little loan restructuring. Biglaw associates to TARP!

Latham Freezes Associate Pay [The BLT: Blog of the Legal Times]

Earlier: Nationwide Pay Raise Freeze Watch: Latham & Watkins

West Coast Pay Raise Watch: Latham Succumbs to ‘Hysteria’

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