Less than a month ago, Reed Smith’s global head of personnel, Casey Ryan, announced the firm has “has no current plans to increase associate starting salaries in any location.” And while the firm hasn’t exactly backed off of that position, there are raises ahead for some associates.
When it comes to compensation, Reed Smith has eschewed the Biglaw tradition of a transparent lockstep model, particularly at the more senior levels. So when the firm held a firm-wide associates meeting last week announcing changes to its compensation structure, we knew there wouldn’t be a clear cut salary chart. But the firm did raise the upper limit on midlevel salaries by $25,000 and on senior associate salaries by $40,000, as detailed by the firm’s compensation graph:
Take Control Of Your Firm’s Finances With Tools Built For Success
Position your firm for long-term growth with better financial visibility and control. Learn how to track performance, manage spending, and plan strategically—download the full e-book now.
But, as a tipster points out, no one actually knows who is making those top (market) salaries:
Well, they raised the upper limit on mid-level and senior associates’ salaries, but it’s extremely unclear who even makes those amounts, and they didn’t raise junior salaries at all. It’s still 180k for 1st years and 190k for 2nd years.
There was also good news as the firm announced increases to the non-discretionary bonus amounts based on billable hours (the firm also has discretionary associate bonuses):
Best Practices In Trust Accounting: What Every Lawyer Needs To Know
Learn legal trust accounting best practices to ensure compliance and protect client funds. Discover expert tips to set your firm up for success.
And the summer associate stipend went up, from $5,000 to $10,000.
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.
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!
(Read the full announcement from the firm on the next page.)
Kathryn 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).