Elite Firm Destroys The Going Market Rate -- First-Year Associates Pull Down $210,000 In Base Compensation

Nice work if you can get it!

And you thought first-year associates making $190,000 per year were overpaid!

The good folks at the elite IP litigation shop of Desmarais LLP has officially blown the new Milbank/Simpson/Cravath salary scale out of the water. The boutique firm has always paid above market — the benefits of a high-stakes IP practice — but now all associates will be getting between a $10,000 and $25,000 raise (depending on seniority), putting them a full $20,000 above market rates for every class year.

And associates will also be receiving summer bonuses, at the going market rate:

As a tipster notes:

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As always, very happy with compensation (including the firm’s great benefits).

That’s right — in addition to top-of-the-market compensation, Desmarais contributes 4 percent of associates’ salaries to their 401Ks, covers their health insurance costs in full (for both single associates and associates with families), and pays above-market bonuses each and every year.

Nice work if you can get it!

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headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).


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