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.
AI Built for Litigation. Verified by Design.
Grounded in authoritative content and verified at every step, Protégé is the only legal AI tool that delivers work you can trust—without exception.
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.
Learning After Law School
Once you’ve got your law degree, how do you keep your professional skills up to date? Share your perspective in this brief survey, and you may be eligible to win a $250 gift card.
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.
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).