Biglaw

Biglaw Firm Bumps Up Salary For Junior Associates -- More Experienced Attorneys Feel The Pinch

To add insult to injury, they have to wait months to see any extra money.

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The associate compensation arms race can be fickle. Sure, it’s great if you’re at a firm that wants to be seen as elite, one that blindly raises associate salaries to whatever standard the firms at the top of the rankings have determined. But, sometimes firms just want the recruiting advantage of being able to tout the sexy first-year associate number — $190,000 — and they let their most experienced attorneys languish behind the market standard.

That’s what Mintz Levin did in 2016 when the last round of associate raises made its way through Biglaw. And it appears as though they’re doing the same thing this go around, with the compression of the salary scale starting with fourth-year associates. As reported by Boston Business Journal:

First- through third-year Mintz associates will see pay bumps of $10,000, matching the salaries first established by the New York firm Milbank Tweed Haldey & McCloy LLP in June. However, fourth- through eighth-year associates will not make as much as their peers at top-paying firms, though many of them are also getting raises. The salary difference for those lawyers is anywhere between $5,000 and $40,000 a year.

Oh, and the raises take effect several months after most Biglaw associates got their money, on January 1.

Even before the firm announced raises for the junior associates, Above the Law was hearing from senior associates who are frustrated their own salaries aren’t keeping up with the Cravaths:

[Compression] is a growing point of frustration for me and my colleagues at Mintz Levin. When we raised salaries in 2016, the raise phased out at the 7th year – meaning that associate base salaries are capped at $300k and the lockstep doesn’t continue. This already puts Mintz Levin 8+ years at least $15k behind its “peer” firms. But now the gap is getting bigger – and we will soon find Mintz attorneys lagging $25k-$50k behind their peers at other firms for doing the same job. Meanwhile, Goodwin and Ropes have already raised, and I bet other Boston firms aren’t far behind. This must be even more frustrating for those in NYC where cost of living is higher. Do something, ML!

Now that their fears have been confirmed, I can only imagine how receptive to headhunters they’ll be.

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Plus, there’s no special summer bonuses for Mintz Levin associates. Though managing partner Bob Bodian said they’re considering how associate bonuses are allocated so top billers get more money, the firm won’t be increased the overall size of the bonus pool, so that extra money (if they make changes to the structure) has to come from another associate’s pocket:

Mintz associates will not be receiving the same $5,000 to $25,000 summer bonuses that some firms have announced along with the salary increases, Bodian said. He told the Business Journal that the firm is reviewing its overall bonus program. It’s not considering changing the total annual bonus pool, so much as it’s rethinking how it distributes that pool of money both across and within associate classes, he said.

“We’re considering altering it so that the highest-performing associates are able to get bonuses equivalent to the top tier of Wall Street firms,” Bodian said.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. 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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