For all we know, this might be all the senior associates are getting.
After making its associates wait forever to hear the details of its new compensation regime, BakerHostetler decided… to make them wait even longer. We’d heard that the firm was committed to matching for first-years and otherwise punted until a July 15 meeting. With July 15 in the rearview mirror, BakerHostetler told its associates that they would be seeing more money, but declined to get very specific:
BakerHostetler will match Cravath scale for first years and raise everyone else’s salaries based on “merit” and PwC survey of similarly situated firms. Raises and letters notifying salaries of any increase in base compensation won’t be revealed until mid December and take effect 1/17. No memo.
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So we have a major firm not handing out raises until January, not even telling lawyers until December, and ducking behind a questionable “black box” system. That’s three strikes in this league. If you begin from the premise that one of the most important functions of salary is to recruit quality talent, hiding the ball until after OCI is a fair sign that these letters aren’t going to be bringing much good cheer. More likely, senior associates will be squeezed while the firm trumpets “matching” for first-years.
But putting aside the substance of these “raises,” the style of the announcement itself bears unpacking. In the New York office, it was presented as a “good news” meeting for all associates. And then…
The “good news” was that people studying for the bar exam will make 180k in NY (unclear what other offices) effective Jan 1. How that impacted anyone in the room is beyond me, but there was dead awkward silence when the room was opened up for a Q&A.
“Hey everyone, we just wanted you to know a bunch of people you don’t know are making more money. So, you might be making more money someday, too. Frankly we haven’t decided yet. Any questions before we pop the bubbly?”
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One associate didn’t appreciate the party:
If you could put out the word so we can have some kind of Amazon Prime day for recruiters, here it’d be great.
Indeed.
Remember, when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches Cravath”). 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.
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.