Biglaw

Biglaw Firm Gets Sad News It Won't Be Raising Associate Compensation

Check out the update to the story for more details on the firm's plans.

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The wave of raises and special summer bonuses sweeping through Biglaw this summer only started last month. That means even though lots of associates have already received their money, hope springs eternal in the hearts of associates at other firms that they too will be seeing a big payday in their future.

That hope is especially poignant for associates at firms that matched the market rate in 2016, the last time raises came to Biglaw. Let’s not forget, though the raises may sound like big, splashy numbers, they really work out to little more than a cost-of-living adjustment. So, if a firm that raised salaries in 2016 suddenly doesn’t have the cash flow to issue raises in 2018… well, that signals they probably jumped the gun on making the 2016 raises.

In any event, associates at McKool Smith (which did raise salaries in 2016) had their hopes for market-base compensation dashed yesterday. The firm delivered the news in an associate meeting — no raises and no summer bonuses will be forthcoming. Though they did hold out hope that high billers may receive merit-based “catch-up” payments at end of year.

And the reaction from sources at the firm is disappointed, but not shocked:

This is the sort of cheap thing that the firm would do given that they require approximately 2200 hours to get market bonuses….

UPDATE: We spoke with a firm source who clarified that first year associates WILL be receiving market base salaries of $190,000. Additionally, the firm says they don’t have a hard hours requirement in order to get market bonuses, rather it’s based on an overall performance review. The source was also able to confirm that all associates in good standing at the end of the year will receive the catch-up payments to put their salary at market rates.

Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of this stuff. 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.

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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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