Branch Office Raises Push Texas Firm To Match $180K
Young lawyers in Texas get big news.
With Kirkland, Skadden, and Willkie moving their Houston-based associates to the $180K Cravath scale — cost of living be damned! — a tipster raised a good question last night:
Any chance you can do a story on the Cravath model in Houston? Very interesting legal market. You have Baker Botts and Vinson & Elkins trying to protect their turf while Sidley, Latham and Kirkland are making a run at their market share. Kirkland has upped salaries across all offices. Will the others follow? Will V&E/BB begrudgingly follow also or develop a super secret pay structure of their own.
As we’ve been saying, this salary bump is a crucible moment for firms. Those outside the Biglaw elite can jump on board and send a strong signal that they are players, or those inside the Biglaw ranks can flinch and announce to the world that they’re no longer deserving of top-of-the-mountain status.
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Vinson & Elkins opted to keep running with the peloton. In a memo from Chairman Mark Kelly and Managing Partner Scott Wulfe released minutes ago, the firm announced that it would not let those Biglaw carpetbaggers poach all the hotshot associates.
The firm will match Cravath nationwide up through $315K for associates in the Class of ’08 and higher. Like many firms, counsel compensation is being bracketed for separate consideration and summer associates are getting moved up accordingly.
Congratulations to the V&E team. Your move, Baker Botts.
You can read the full memo on the next page.
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Remember, when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches Cravath”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.
Earlier: Top 10 Firm Smacks Its Associates Across The Face With Money (Skadden)
Another Day, Another Biglaw Salary Bump (Willkie)
Chicago-Based Biglaw Giant Gives Raises To All U.S. Associates (Kirkland)
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
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