Biglaw Firm Raises Salaries, But Doesn't Quite Match Market

Different offices, different compensation.

onJune 13, 2016 at 5:07 PMJune 13, 2016 at 5:30 PM

Lots of money. More news from the salary war front. And this dispatch is more than the typical repetition of the Cravath, MoneyLaw scale for all of its offices. Locke Lord has given all of its U.S. associates raises, but how big your payday is depends on where you are working.

The firm announced today that they’re moving associates in “large markets” in the U.S. to a $180,000 scale, and we have another Biglaw firm refusing to make across the board salary increases. Let’s take a look at Locke Lord’s offices (the ones marked with an asterisk are deemed “large” by the firm):

Atlanta
Austin*
Boston*
Chicago*
Cincinnati
Dallas*
Hartford
Houston*
Los Angeles*
Miami
Morristown
New Orleans
New York*
Providence
Sacramento
San Francisco*
Stamford*
Washington, DC*
West Palm Beach

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Good for first years in those markets pulling down the money, but not everyone is happy. Though the firm has yet to release the year-by-year raise breakdown, senior associates seem to be getting the shaft. Locke Lord has said it is increasing large market associate salaries by $20,000-$30,000, depending on year, but on the Cravath scale, 7th and 8th year associates are making an extra $35,000 as of July 1.

Don’t cry too much for associates in “small markets,” first year salaries will be bumped to $155,000, and all associates in those offices will get a bump of $10,000-$15,000 depending on class year.

The firm has said it is still evaluating pay raises for international offices, summer associates, and junior partners.

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.

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