Litigation Boutiques Are Making Moves To The $180K Scale

The Cravath scale -- it's not just for Biglaw.

onJune 9, 2016 at 11:52 AM

Tower of Money The Cravath scale — it’s not just for Biglaw. The very first firm to make the move to the newly established $180,000 pay scale was a California boutique, Hueston Hennigan, so we really shouldn’t be surprised that yet another boutique is matching. There should be no more doubt, the new pay scale is for all the power players, regardless of the number of lawyers at the firm.

Greenberg Gross bills themselves as the firm to turn to for high-stakes business cases and they are showing that they’re a player, matching the Cravath scale. The raise is effective June 26 (compared to the industry standard July 1), so they’re getting a few more days of big cash. Sure, the email only lists class salaries up to the class of 2010, although maybe that’s more related to the size of the firm, than some sort of malice towards senior associates.

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From LexisNexis

Folks at the firm are happy with the bump, and, according to our tipster, the pressure of competitors (Hueston Hennigan and Irell moving to the Cravath scale) raising compensation is a big part of them making the move:

Not too surprising given GG includes several former Irell alums and tries to align itself with Hueston Hennigan. But nonetheless a very well appreciated gesture.

Let’s take a tip from name partner Alan Greenberg and raise a toast to the associates at the Greenberg Gross firm. They are celebrating today.

We are covering this story as market conditions develop, 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.