Kirkland Has Spoken... Can We Now Declare The Salary Wars Over?
The last best hope for a firm going over the top has merely matched.
When Cravath added the most recent wrinkle to the FrankenRaises Monster that is the Milbank/Simpson/Cravath associate salary scale, we mused that it might not be enough to get the very top of the Biglaw revenue machine to match. After all, the economics of Cravath issuing a raise for its relatively small number of associates is just different than those faced by Kirkland or Latham or DLA Piper.
But now we know that Cravath’s still got the magic. Kirkland has finally moved and they’ll be matching the Cravath scale.
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Summers are getting money too, and everything’s taking effect as of July 1, just like everyone else. The firm is also prorating bonuses for attorneys who took leave or worked part-time at some point during the year. That’s a wrinkle. Unless that excludes maternity leave, that’s kind of annoying.
Kirkland associates have some thoughts:
KIRKLAND MATCHED MILBANK/SIMPSON/CRAVATH SCALE. NOW BACK TO THE GRINDER WE GO…
And…
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Kirkland matches Cravath. Not impressed.
Well, Kirkland associates don’t need to despair too much — the firm is still known for its above-market bonuses, and there’s no reason to believe that won’t continue. That’s why this move doesn’t impact Kirkland associates as much as it slams the door on the rest of Biglaw. Every firm who hadn’t moved still drifted to sleep with visions of $200K dancing in their heads. Now… those are gone.
Within the next week, every top-tier firm will match (or substantially match) this scale. Our salary wars are all but assuredly over, folks.
Enjoy $190K.
(See the complete memo on the next page…)
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Earlier: Screw Cravath, What’s Kirkland Going To Do?
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.
