Prestigious Litigation Boutique Announces Nationwide Salary Raises To $190K!!!
These trial attorneys will now be earning top dollar. Congratulations!
Earlier today, we reported that Desmarais had announced major salary moves in response to Cravath’s new salary scale. The firm was the second member of the $160K-Plus Club to publicly announce associate raises, preceded by McKool Smith’s announcement yesterday. Thus afternoon, yet another member of that elite club has stepped up to the plate to announce changes to their already generous salary offerings.
Susman Godfrey, a firm known for recruiting associates exclusively from the ranks of former federal law clerks, including Supreme Court clerks, will raise salaries for first-year associates to $190,000, effective July 1. The firm’s salary scale tops out at $300K for sixth-year associates, which is $20K above the Cravath salary scale.
UPDATE (6/25/2016, 4:00 p.m.): Actually, Susman should be seen as matching rather than beating the Cravath scale. Because all Susman associates come to the firm with at least one year of clerkship experience, what Susman calls “first-year” associates in its press release are really “second-year” associates everywhere else, and Susman’s “sixth-year” associates are the equivalent of “seventh-year” associates at Cravath.
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In a press release announcing the good news, managing partner Stephen Susman said:
“We pay our associates top salaries and bonuses because we expect — and receive — the best from them,” said Stephen D. Susman, Susman Godfrey Managing Partner. “We are incredibly selective when hiring associates, with a talent pool hailing from the nation’s top law schools. In addition, we only hire law students who’ve clerked for a judge in the federal court system, as it’s the best training for a young trial attorney.”
Susman continued: “We’ve found that giving associates substantive responsibility, making them privy to the firm’s financials, and letting them vote — on an equal standing with partners — on virtually all firm decisions, have enabled us to recruit and retain better lawyers.”
Congratulations to all associates at Susman & Godfrey! The firm typically pays out beaucoup year-end bonus bucks that far exceed industry standards, so we’re sure your student loans will be paid off in no time!
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.
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(Flip to the next page to see the full Susman Godrey press release, complete with quotes from managing partner Stephen D. Susman.)
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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