Biglaw

The Billion-Dollar Biglaw Firms That Have NOT Raised Associate Salaries

These firms have the money -- they just haven't decided to spend it on associates yet.

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Milbank has set the Biglaw world on its ear by unexpectedly raising the base associate salary to $190K for first-years, with corresponding $10,000-$15,000 raises up the associate ladder. Unlike the last salary bump in 2016, firms are taking their sweet time deciding if associates deserve a raise. The line between the haves and have-nots in the Biglaw world keeps on growing, but, despite expectations, even the haves haven’t matched the new market scale yet.

So which are the firms dragging their feet on compensation decisions?

There are 31 firms that have the revenue to bump salaries — they each are pulling down more than a billion (yes, with a B) in gross revenue. But, despite these impressive numbers, exactly none of them have decided to match Milbank’s (frankly modest) associate raises. At least, not yet.

So, let’s take a look at the firms (and their gross revenue numbers) making the really big bucks that haven’t moved on associate raises:

Kirkland $3,165,000,000
Latham $3,063,992,000
Baker McKenzie $2,670,000,000
DLA $2,634,094,000
Skadden $2,582,325,000
Sidley $2,036,161,000
Hogan Lovells $2,036,000,000
Morgan Lewis $2,001,000,000
Jones Day $1,959,360,000
Norton Rose $1,958,000,000
White & Case $1,804,200,000
Gibson Dunn $1,642,585,000
Ropes & Gray $1,597,091,000
Greenberg Traurig $1,477,180,000
Sullivan & Cromwell $1,400,790,000
Weil $1,390,901,000
Simpson Thacher $1,375,662,000
Mayer Brown $1,313,000,000
Paul Weiss $1,301,773,000
Davis Polk $1,240,000,000
Quinn Emanuel $1,229,807,000
Cleary Gottlieb $1,214,044,000
King & Spalding $1,138,540,000
Wilmer $1,137,300,000
Reed Smith $1,119,239,000
Paul Hastings $1,118,100,000
Cooley $1,072,079,000
Morrison & Foerster $1,062,700,000
Akin Gump $1,039,656,000
Goodwin Procter $1,032,437,000
Squire Patton $1,000,044,000

(Update: Around 1:03 p.m. on June 6th, Simpson Thacher announced they were matching the new Milbank scale PLUS giving associates a special summer bonus.)

Not convinced that gross revenue is a fair metric to determine which firms should be in a position to raise salaries? Maybe you think they’re highly leveraged, fine — let’s look at the top 25 most profitable law firms. This list, pulled from Am Law 2018 data (based on 2017 results), ranks the firms by their profitability index. You’ll see there’s a lot of overlap with the Billion-Dollar Club, but only one firm on the list — the market-setting Milbank — has raised associate salaries. (The other two Biglaw firms to increase salaries fall just out of the top 25 — Proskauer is 35 and Winston & Strawn is 39.)

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1 Paul Weiss
2 Cleary Gottlieb
3 Kirkland
4 Quinn Emanuel
5 Weil
6 Davis Polk
7 Cravath
8 Cahill
9 Simpson Thacher
10 Milbank (First to move)
11 Lathan
12 Boies Schiller
13 (tie) Dechert
13 (tie) White & Case
15 Gibson Dunn
16 (tie) Sullivan & Cromwell
16 (tie) Willkie
18 DLA
19 Skadden
20 Paul Hastings
21 (tie) Baker McKenzie
21 (tie) King & Spalding
23 Cadwalader
24 Fried Frank
25 Debevoise

Let’s take a moment to recognize that your Biglaw compensation leaders are Milbank, Proskauer, and Winston & Strawn.

We keep hearing the Biglaw rich are getting richer… so, on behalf of associates at these firms, where’s the money?

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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