The pressure continues to step up on the Magic Circle firms doddering behind the salary frenzy. Freshfields and Clifford Chance have already taken the plunge, but Allen & Overy and Linklaters are still whistling and looking at the sky hoping no one notices that their peers have raised the stakes.
Well, it’ll be hard to ignore this: a Silver Circle firm has now matched the market. Ashurst, a global behemoth with 27 offices in 16 countries, announced a raise matching the Cravath scale through ’08/$315K. The move portends a continued push to gain ground in the U.S., where Ashurst maintains a small office in New York and a tiny office in Washington (indeed, it’s not entirely clear that the firm even has associates based in its Washington office).
It’s a happy day for Ashurst, and no doubt another day of grumbling for the lagging Magic Circle associates. Perhaps, like in the world of Harry Potter, things are just a bit less magical in America.
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You know the drill. 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.
UPDATE (6/17/2016, 11:53 a.m.): We’ve added the memo; see the next page.
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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.