Biglaw

Elite West Coast Firm Matches $190K Market Salaries -- And Throws In Extra Money For Summer Associates

Will any other law firms match this one's generosity towards summer associates? We certainly hope so.

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Many associates on the West Coast seem to be waiting for Godot when it comes to their firms announcing the adoption of new $190K market salaries, but other firms have quickly gotten in gear and decided to pay associates what they owe them for their intense dedication to their jobs. Some firms really owe their associates — especially firms that were recently smacked around and shamed on social media for trying to force their summer associates to sign binding arbitration agreements meant to cover all Title VII claims, including sex and race discrimination.

The firm we’re talking about is Munger Tolles & Olson, a preeminent Am Law 200 firm that we’ve likened to the Wachtell of the West for attracting top talent. In addition to having scrapped its mandatory arbitration clause for all employees earlier this spring, the firm has decided to match the new salary scale. In case you’ve somehow forgotten, this is what the new salary scale looks like at the firm:

  • Class of 2017: $190,000 / $5,000
  • Class of 2016: $200,000 / $7,500
  • Class of 2015: $220,000 / $10,000
  • Class of 2014: $255,000 / $15,000
  • Class of 2013: $280,000 / $20,000
  • Class of 2012: $305,000 / $25,000
  • Class of 2011: $325,000 / $25,000
  • Class of 2010+: $340,000 / $25,000

In even brighter news — and perhaps as a more formal mea culpa to its summer associates — Munger is making its match for them retroactive to the beginning of the summer. That’s a pretty significant apology as far as dollars are concerned.

Congratulations to everyone at Munger Tolles on their raises and bonuses — especially the law students, who will now be the highest paid of all summer associates (along with summers at Jones Day) thanks to both firms’ decision to make their raises retroactive. Will any other law firms match Munger Tolles & Olson’s generosity towards summer associates? We certainly hope so!

Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important salary updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Raises Salaries”). 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.

And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts (which is the alert list we’ll also use for salary announcements), please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for all of your help!

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(Flip to the next page to see the Munger Tolles raise memo in full.)

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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