We spend a lot (I mean a LOT) of time on Above the Law documenting the foibles of the Biglaw salary war. But it’s often the boutiques that will actually beat the market. Take, for example, IP firm Desmarais.
Firm founder John Desmarais sent out an email regarding compensation, with something associates have got to love seeing:
As you likely have seen, the big law associate salary market has moved again. After a flurry of activity, it seems to have settled around the Davis Polk grid. As we have done consistently over our last eleven years, we will increase our associate salary grid to once again exceed the big law grid.
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So Desmarais LLP is committed to paying its associates more than what Biglaw is willing to offer. Which begs the question: how *much* more? Well, here’s the IP boutique’s salary grid, effective July 1:
So an extra $5K per associate. Not bad at all. You can read the full memo on the next page.
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”). 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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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).