When your firm boasts profits per partner (PPP) that top $2 million, you’d best believe associates want a cut of the action. We are in the midst of a heady time, with Biglaw firms rushing to give their hardworking associates a raise, the first in almost a decade, to prove they are part of the select MoneyLaw club.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft pulls down PPP of $2,060,000, according to the latest Am Law 100 rankings, so we assumed it was only a matter of time until they announced they were increasing associate compensation to be in line with the Cravath scale, announced last week. In fact, only two firms with higher PPP have yet to announce if their associate compensation will lag behind the market (King & Spalding and Dechert; Wachtell Lipton has not revealed any changes to their compensation structure, but they were already ahead of the market). So it was with as much relief as excitement that associates greeted today’s pay raise news from CWT.
The firm announced raises for their U.S. and London offices. The class of 2016 and summer associates will also benefit from the firm’s largesse, and those off the grid, or in other offices, will be told individually about their compensation.
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Enjoy the payday, CWT associates, you deserve it!
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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Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).