It was just two days ago that we received the following message from a forlorn associate at Patterson Belknap:
Some frustrated associates at Patterson Belknap wanted to let ATL know that, despite the movement in the market, the firm has been completely silent on the subject of associate raises. Although the firm is outside the Am Law 100, Patterson’s profits per partner are healthy and much higher than those of many firms that have raised, the firm is not highly leveraged, and it has only one office — in New York City — where cost of living is the highest. Patterson markets itself as a highly selective firm that competes with some of the most elite New York firms in terms of talent and, until now, salaries. There’s some speculation that because Patterson has essentially done away with on-campus recruiting and now hires almost exclusively law clerks, management may try to wait until clerk recruiting season to raise salaries. Hopefully we’re just being paranoid, but the prolonged inaction has made us suspicious.
Patterson Belknap currently sits at No. 149 in the latest Am Law 200 rankings, but with profits per partner of $1.62 million, the firm is ranked No. 51 out of all 200 Am Law firms. After nearly a month of watching associates at other firms receive raises, those who work at Patterson were right to question when they’d receive more money.
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Luckily for these associates, the firm decided to issue raises last night under cover of darkness. Hard copy memos announcing Cravath matches — listing the increases, not the actual new salaries — were sent to associates after hours, and salary increases are effective July 1. To our knowledge, Patterson has matched Cravath salaries from their first-year associates at $180K through their eighth-year midlevel associates at $315K.
It might’ve been painful to wait this long, but at least your firm didn’t leave you hanging. Congratulations to all Patterson Belknap associates!
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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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