Biglaw

Associates At Cravath Make More Money Than Partners At A Dozen Biglaw Firms

Firms tell associates they appreciate them with money.

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How much money does a firm, or, perhaps more accurately, its partners, have to make before it is considered “Biglaw”? That’s certainly an open question, and one the editors here at Above the Law argue about all the time, but it’s generally a pretty easy call that the firms on the Am Law 200 belong in Biglaw.

That’s why it is particularly shocking to note that with the most recently announced bonuses, senior associates at the elite firms (read: Cravath or matching that scale) make more than the average partner makes at 12 Am Law 200 firms. As Law.com reports, senior associates at Cravath are pulling down $465,000. That’s more than the profits per partner at the following firms:

  • Bond, Schoeneck & King;
  • Dinsmore & Shohl;
  • Eckert Seamans;
  • GrayRobinson;
  • Holland & Hart;
  • Kutak Rock;
  • Lane Powell;
  • LeClairRyan;
  • Littler Mendelson;
  • Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin;
  • Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick;
  • Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker.

And as Brad Hildebrandt, CEO of Hildebrandt Consulting, notes, keeping the associate ranks — particularly at the senior level — happy is essential for top firms:

“For the top firms, they are all trying to recruit the same group of people,” Hildebrandt said, noting that 2018 is turning out to be a very good year for law firms in terms of revenue. But attrition rates are also high, with millennial lawyers tending to leave after three to four years in Big Law, he said.

“Many firms have a shortage of associates in the five- to eight-year range,” Hildebrandt said. “You add all of that together, it always translates into higher salaries, and now it’s translating into a bonus.”

Little keeps associates as happy as cold, hard cash.

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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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