UPDATE (6/10/16 4:06 p.m.): Associates abroad are a little confused about this memo. Read on.
UPDATE (6/10/16 5:09 p.m.): We now know a little more about what’s happening with those U.S. associates outside of New York. See below.
White & Case knows what side their bread is buttered on. The ninth-largest law firm in the United States has joined the ranks of MoneyLaw in bringing the dollars to its New York associates.
The pay scale is the one we’ve all become familiar with, originated by Cravath on Monday.
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The twist with this one is the same thing we saw with Proskauer: those associates in offices that weren’t on the $160K pay scale in the first place aren’t getting the full salary bump. Or at least not as a matter of course — their new salaries will be set by their respective offices.
A tipster notes:
That was an extremely deceptive way to announce it considering they sent that email to all associates including those of [us] working New York hours in other markets.
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Another has little faith in those individual offices:
Associates off the NYC base salary scale are expecting the worst.
UPDATE: It appears that White & Case Miami is the big loser here. From what we’ve heard they were the only U.S. office not on the New York scale. Which kind of begs the question, why not just say “all offices except Miami” for clarity’s sake?
UPDATE: We’re hearing that US associates in the NY pay scale in White & Case’s foreign offices did not receive the memo and are in the dark as to whether or not they’re getting raises. On the one hand, they are on the scale. On the other hand the memo is pretty specific about “U.S. offices.”
Not too much surprise that White & Case met the scale for its New York (and New York-esque) associates, but stopped short of being overly generous. They tend to match the market bonuses, even when firms come over the top, so this move is in line with their practice.
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.
Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).