Covington & Burling: Salaries Thawed in D.C.

When I wrote the open thread on the Vault top ten, I wanted to say that none of the top firms froze salaries during the recession. But I couldn’t, because back in November Covington & Burling surprised many people by freezing associate salaries outside of New York.

But as we mentioned at the beginning of this month, salary shenanigans are so 2009. 2010 is the year of salary normalcy.

It appears that Covington received the memo…

Remember, Covington never froze salaries in New York. And Covington rolled back the salary freeze on associates in California earlier this year.

Hmm… New York, California, what’s missing?

Ah yes, associates in Covington’s biggest office in Washington, D.C. Yesterday, we received news that Covington was taking its D.C. associates out of the freezer. Here’s a short statement from a Covington & Burling spokesperson:

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I can confirm that we have unfrozen associate salaries, effective October 1.

Okay, so D.C. associates are out of the freezer and into the fridge until October. But still, you see where this is going. It’s going to a place where top firms are no longer trying to get cute with associate salaries.

And that has to mean that firms are starting to notice that associates have some options about where they work. If Covington D.C. is still playing around with associate salaries, while say Williams & Connolly is not, that could be a problem come recruiting time.

So, welcome back to the light, Covington & Burling. You’re the latest firm to show that the worst of the recession is behind us.

Earlier: Nationwide Salary Freeze Watch: Covington & Burling
At Covington, It’s Always Sunny in California. On the East Coast, Not So Much.

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