Wait -- WHO Just Raised Associate Salaries?

We are sure, now that this firm has met the Cravath scale, all is forgiven.

onJune 22, 2016 at 3:11 PM

Successful businessman money This is not the kind of firm where everyone just assumed they’d have to raise associate salaries once Cravath announced their new MoneyLaw scale. Even the associates at this firm didn’t think they had much of a shot to see the big money. But they were proven wrong. Welcome to the MoneyLaw club, Sheppard Mullin.

Now that they’ve gotten their payday, it is fun to look back at some of the complaints we received about the firm from associates before the raises:

Associates here at Sheppard Mullin are following the West Coast developments closely, but we are not hopeful. Despite the consistent increase in revenue, PPP, headcount and partners telling us and recruits that we are playing with the “big boys,” the firm has been notoriously stingy when it comes to reacting to the market (i.e., last year’s bonus debacle). It’s hard to see how the partners can continue to act like and tell recruits that we are “peer” with firms the likes of OMM, Baker, PH, and Orrick. Needless to say, many associates are not placing any bets on Sheppard rising to market. This is definitely going to affect our recruiting for the next couple years until they wake up. Smh.

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Can you PLEASE do a post on how Sheppard Mullin is dragging their feet…. All we got was a general memo saying they are “looking into it,” which is crap when you overhear partners saying they hope the “buzz” dies off because we are “paid too much.”

We are sure, now that they’ve met the Cravath scale, all is forgiven.

The raises apply to all U.S. offices, and summer associates are getting a raise too. The firm’s email to associates grants the raises based on levels, rather than class year, but the raises to each level track exactly with the prevailing market rate. The effective date is July 11 — 10 days later than most firms’ raises, but still pretty reasonable (we’re not talking September).

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.