It’s been a long, challenging year+ with a pandemic that just wouldn’t quit and legal work that also just wouldn’t stop. But now the COVID vaccine is widely available and Biglaw has decided to reward associates for their hard work with cold, hard cash.
The raise party got started with Milbank, but then Davis Polk came over the top. Now it’s just a race to see how quickly the firms can match that scale.
The latest firm to make news for associate raises is Goodwin Procter. It’s not a huge surprise that a firm ranked 23rd on the latest Am Law rankings is able to match these salary numbers (especially when the firm is already going out of its way to court laterals), but it’s sure nice to see. For associates, the new compensation scale for U.S.-based associates at the firm will be as follows, effective July 1:
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As for folks outside the U.S., the firm said they will continue to pay market-based salaries there. And for non-associates, this is what Goodwin is doing:
We are evaluating the impact of the increase to the associate salary scale on our counsel and other professional track attorneys on a case-by-case basis and expect to communicate the impact individually. Any change to compensation for professional track attorneys will also be effective July 1, 2021.
You can read the full memo on the next page.
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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).