Elite IP Litigation Boutique SHATTERS The Market, Leaves Cravath Raises In The Dust!

Whoa! That's a LOT of money!

business man anger shouting with money rainIt was just yesterday when we lamented the fact that aside from McKool Smith, we had yet to hear from other members of the $160K-Plus Club, a group of elite firms that we’d previously highlighted for paying their first-year associates more than $160,000. As you may recall, $160K was the prevailing market salary for first-year attorneys for almost a decade prior to June 6, 2016, when it was raised to $180,000 by Cravath. For a full business week, associates hoped — nay, prayed — that any firm would be daring enough to raise the bar, and raise their first-year associates’ salaries over the $180K mark.

Associates, your prayers have finally been answered. Desmarais LLP has officially blown the new Cravath salary scale (or the “MoneyLaw” scale, if you prefer) completely out of the water. Here’s an excerpt from the email Desmarais associates and summer associates received early this morning from founding partner John Desmarais (emphasis added):

Over the course of the last few days, several of the leading law firms in the New York market have announced an increase in their associate salaries — finally coming up to match what we at DLLP had been paying our associates all along. On behalf of the partnership, I am pleased to announce that Desmarais LLP has decided to adhere to its philosophy of paying above-market compensation to its associates.

Desmarais may have only 36 attorneys, but John Desmarais’s little dig about salaries finally coming up to his firm’s level must still burn for managing partners and chairpersons at other firms — especially other firms that have been too afraid (too cheap, or too financially unsound) to announce a move on market salaries for associates.

In the past, all class years at Desmarais made $20K more than the prevailing market rates at the time. First-year associates at the firm were paid $180K, second-year associates at the firm were paid $190K, and so on and so forth. Now that the prevailing market rate for first-year associates is $180K, Desmarais first-year attorneys will earn a whopping $200,000. All other class years at the firm have received the $20K bump as well. The full Desmarais salary scale in all of its majesty is available on the next page.

What’s also super impressive is the fact that on top of these huge salaries, Desmarais contributes 4 percent of associates’ salaries to their 401Ks, covers their health insurance costs in full (for both single associates and associates with families), and pays above-market bonuses each and every year. What a magical place to work!

Will your firm dare to match the beautiful new Desmarais salary scale? If Cravath wasn’t willing to go to $190K, then associates at other firms may be out of luck. But if your practice consists of high-stakes IP litigation, it may be time to consider a lateral move.

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Congratulations to all associates and summer associates at Desmarais!

Remember, we are covering this trend extensively, so please drop us a line — text (646-820-8477) or email (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches Cravath”) — when you know of another firm making a compensation move. 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. All sources are kept strictly confidential.

(Flip to the next page to see the full Desmarais pay-raise memo, from the firm’s founding partner John M. Demarais.)


Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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