Finally. That must be what associates at this Biglaw firm are saying to themselves today amid breathless sighs. Their firm finally decided it was time to raise salaries. After all, it’s been a month and a half since Cravath forced the rest of the Biglaw world to make moves on their compensation scales; their firm was the last salary holdout in their city. Day after day, week after week, we received countless emails from associates, begging — nay, pleading — for information as to whether their firm would ever make a move.
If you haven’t guessed by now, the firm we’re speaking about Mintz Levin. Here’s a small sampling of what we’ve heard from the understandably angry associates there:
• Has Mintz Levin raised salaries?
• …radio silence from Mintz Levin. Are we the only Boston based firm yet to say something one way or another?
• Has Mintz Levin raised salaries?
• Mintz Levin refuses to match the new salary scale after a record year of profits. Associates and summers are FURIOUS at the greediness.
• Has Mintz Levin raised salaries?
• Lots of frustrated associates here at Mintz Levin, which I believe is the last large firm in Boston to remain on the $160k scale. It’s a real slap in the face after the firm just had its most profitable year ever, especially since about a dozen firms with comparable PPP have raised.
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Today, word came from on high (courtesy of managing member Robert Bodian) that associates would, in fact, be seeing a pay raise to nearly match the Cravath scale:
While senior associates at Mintz Levin will not see the $315K salary that Cravath has pledged to pay its more senior associates, that’s not where the bad news ends. Associates at Mintz Levin won’t be seeing their new salaries until October 1, making it one of the handful of firms that has decided to push off wage increases in an effort to keep paying their associates below-market salaries for a few months.
Congratulations on your prospective raises, Mintz Levin associates. We hope that you’ll be happier, less frustrated, and less furious in a few months.
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Remember, we are covering this trend extensively, 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.
(Flip to the next page to see the full Mintz Levin salary-raise memo.)
Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn