Associate Salaries

Stat Of The Week: Actually, $180K Is A Mediocre Raise

$180K or not, law firm associates are still losing ground.

stat imageOur friend Bruce MacEwen offers a bit of sobering perspective amid all the fuss over the Great Biglaw Pay Hike of 2016:

Actually, if you adjust for inflation since the last hike, to $160K, in early 2007, associates are losing ground—especially if you focus on changes in the cost of living in the New York metropolitan area, which is presumably the only locale Cravath cares much about. Courtesy of the BLS, to achieve the same purchasing power as $160,000 would have gotten you in 2007 would require about $189,500 in 2016. Maybe “New York To $190″ was more accurate than anyone realized.

189,500 who knew

Check out Bruce’s full take here.