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A Perfect Match For Some... A Kind Of Match For Others... And Nothing For The Rest

Truly national firm brings a patchwork of raises.

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On Friday night, Perkins Coie surprised its associates with the raise announcement they’d been sweating out the entire month of June. In the memo copied on the next page, the firm informed associates in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and Washington that they would be matching the prevailing market scale for associates up through their fourth year. Beyond that, in accordance with Perkins Coie’s existing practice, associates are compensated according to a range and the firm announced that it would bump up the top end of that range to match the market standard.

Not bad. It may have caused unneeded consternation to drag out this announcement until the last possible day, but it’s still better than 2016, when the firm waited until after the market raises went into effect to finally move and issue retroactive raises.

But the memo conveniently excludes the associates in the Bay Area. What about those associates? Well, according to tipsters they received a full match all the way up the scale. That’s in line with what the firm did in 2016 as well. They know what market butters their bread.

As for the other U.S. offices — from Anchorage to Madison — we don’t complete information at this time. Associates in Seattle, Bellevue, and Denver will be getting a mixed bag. Those offices already have an 1850-hour scale and a 1950-hour scale for associate compensation. Those on the 1950 scale will receive a market raise to match in the first two years, with the third-year and up operating along a range with the top end set at the market figure. The 1850-hour folks will receive no raise, but will get a “true up” payment for hours they work between the 1850 and 1950 target.

We also know that Portland, Madison, and Phoenix will all be getting nothing.

We said from the beginning that this modest raise was required by every firm that raised in 2016 unless they’re willing to admit they overdid it back then. Apparently, Perkins Coie thinks they did. Associates with student loan bills to pay seem to disagree.

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This post has been updated to include information from the other offices not included in the quasi-market match memo

(What we have so far is reproduced on the next page…)

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HeadshotJoe 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.

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