Biglaw

Sullivan & Cromwell Joins The Salary Discussion

It took a while but they're here now.

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We’re entering the stage of the raise cycle where we start hearing from associates wondering why their firm hasn’t moved yet and whether or not that’s something they should be more worried about. And while it would make for great Above the Law fodder to muse that every firm that didn’t announce raises last week is secretly hemorrhaging money and marching to the Dewey Hall of Shame, the reality is that it’s not July 1 yet and firms still have time to make announcements.

Sure, it’s great to be an early mover. It builds a lot of goodwill to flex the compensation muscle early and prove you have what it takes to run with the leaders. And no one wants to be the last to move either. But in the vast in-between, there’s not really much incentive to move because whether a firm moved on day one or day 15 is going to be lost in the ether by the end of the summer.

Sullivan & Cromwell was one of the firms that hadn’t moved yet, despite all of its supposed peers moving already. But now it has and everything is back to normal.

S&C doesn’t put out a memo of lockstep raises, but the tips we’ve gotten so far track the market, so we’ll offer with all appropriate grains of salt this approximation of the new S&C salary scale.

Notably absent from the good news are the S&C counsel. We’re hearing that counsel will not partake of these raises, just as they didn’t partake of the special bonuses. These combined slights creates the awkward gap where eighth-years could take home $30K more than special counsel several years their senior. Yikes.

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For now, congratulations to the associates.

Please help us help you when it comes to salary news at other firms. As soon as your firm’s memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Salary”) or text us (646-820-8477). 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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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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