Top 10 Firm Smacks Its Associates Across The Face With Money
An Am Law Top 10 player matches Cravath.
One more firm joins the “Everyone to 180” train. Skadden announced associate raises for all its U.S. offices this afternoon, declining to follow firms like Covington who firmly believe that New York offices are owed a premium. That’s good news for associates working out of some of Skadden’s more provincial offices.
I’m pretty sure with $180K/year you can hire people to ignore your family for you in Houston.
In a memo just sent out by executive partner Eric Friedman, associates in all of U.S. Skaddenland at least learned that they will indeed be working on the Cravath scale. At least up until the class of ’08 or senior, which tops out at $315K — as opposed to some firms topping out at $325K for ’07 and senior. (We will be revisiting the topic of very senior associates and counsel in a subsequent story; please email us or text us with info and thoughts.)
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Not that anyone seriously expected the revenue behemoth — ranked 4th in the Am Law 100 by gross revenue and revenue per lawyer and ranked 10th overall by the ATL Power 100 — to let something derail its seat at the T14 talent recruiting table.
I love that the memo takes the time to specifically note that associates who aren’t “in good standing” won’t get the raise. Damn. It makes sense, but all I see here is a klaxon telling everyone that there are associates around them.
The memo doesn’t make clear whether or not Skadden is upping the pay of its summer associates. After the market established that norm, to not do so would be, dare we say, a real slap in the face. UPDATE (6/8/16 6:04 p.m.): Tipsters confirm that Skadden did up summer compensation with a separate email.
Enjoy it, Skadden. Full memo available here.
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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: Biglaw Salary Hike: Not All Offices Are Created Equal
2015 ATL Power 100 Law Firm Rankings
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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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