NY To $180K: The First Major Match
What you've been waiting for: a match of the Cravath scale from a large New York law firm.
Sure, it was lovely when Hueston Hennigan matched the new Cravath salary scale Monday night, but we know what you’ve all been waiting for. Elite litigation boutiques in California are nice and all, but what are the major players in New York going to do on associate base salaries?
We now bring you the first major match. Milbank Tweed — a definite Biglaw firm, Am Law 100 and NLJ 350, with more than 600 lawyers and $700 million in annual revenue — has matched the Cravath salary scale.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. You’ll recall that in the last bonus season, Milbank matched Cravath within an hour. This time, on salary news, Milbank waited until the next day. What took them so long? 😉
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Our Milbank sources are pleased:
- “Milbank definitely tries it’s best to appreciate associates, and while it’s not a comp leader it has always been committed to paying the top of the market. It’s also really nice that the firm ensures we don’t have to wait around too long to hear.”
- “Welcome news. I’m happy to be working at a firm that recognizes how important it is to be on par with its peers to retain the best talent.”
Congrats, Milbank associates, on the enhanced salaries!
UPDATE (11:10 a.m.): An important point raised by a reader: “Which offices does the Milbank raise cover? That would be big news if we now have the raise spreading to non-NYC offices.”
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It seems to cover all of Milbank’s U.S. offices — specifically, Los Angeles and Washington as well as New York. The memo does not contain “NYC only” language, and the email transmitting the memo got sent to #LA Associates and #DC Associates as well as #NY Associates. So this bodes well for the Cravath pay raise spreading beyond New York. (Recall that Cravath itself has only New York and London offices.)
UPDATE (11:20 a.m.) For anyone who’s interested, I’ll be on CNBC’s Power Lunch at around 2:15 p.m. today to talk about the Biglaw pay raise news. Please tune in if so inclined!
UPDATE (3:37 p.m.) In case you’re wondering, yes, incoming Milbank associates (class of 2016) will be getting the new $180,000 salary. They recently received this information from recruiting: “The Executive Committee announced an increase to our associate salary scale earlier today; the memo is attached. The annual salary for the Class of 2016 will be $180,000.”
UPDATE (6/8/2016, 1:37 p.m.) Consistent with Paul Weiss and several other firms, Milbank will be paying its summer associates at the new going rate for first-year associates:
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(Flip to the next page for the full Milbank memo, from chairman Scott Edelman.)
Earlier: Another Firm Bumps Associate Salaries To The $180K Scale
Breaking: NY To $180K!!! Cravath Raises Associate Base Salaries!!!
David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.
