As raises trickle through the legal industry — rightly or wrongly — and boost the living standards of associates in every office — rightly or wrongly — some firms really don’t want to be forced to give their associates their first real raise in almost 10 years. A few firms are willing to grandstand about it. Others just want to duck their heads in the sand and hope no one notices.
McGuireWoods falls in the latter category. The Richmond-based Biglaw firm with 20 domestic offices has not yet raised salaries. Indeed, they haven’t even raised salaries across the country to the now-bygone $160K standard. Even Richmond rival Hunton & Williams managed to do that — if only recently. But it’s more than just keeping a lid on salaries, there are some unnamed partners at McGuireWoods who really, really don’t want the world to know about it.
From a tipster:
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Overheard partners today discussing that they’re not going to put out a firm wide memo about not giving raises because they don’t want to end up in THE MEDIA. We are looking doubly bad because Hunton Williams showed us up in Richmond by raising first years to 160 (we’re at 145), and now all of the associates in major markets are pissed, too.
Well, then let’s make sure this ends up in THE MEDIA.
Now this is just one tipster reporting some hearsay, but earlier this morning I directly asked McGuireWoods if they would be raising salaries or not and received no acknowledgment. Not even a “it’s still being discussed.” So that’s at least consistent with this tip.
Again, I’m on the record that it’s a little ridiculous that associates all across the country are getting the same salary as those in elite NY firms. It just seems gratuitous. But now that $180K is the prevailing scale among the top-tier firms, and certainly among firms maintaining offices in New York, Houston, Chicago, etc. then the firm needs to step up to the plate or admit that they just don’t see themselves as one of the top-tier. And, hey, there’s no shame in being second-best.
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But what you can’t do is sit on a salary scale that was already outdated before the salary frenzy and hope no one will notice. We’ll notice. If that was your grand strategy, then you failed.
Maybe it’s time to gather the partners and talk about $160K… at least.
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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.