'Tone-Deaf And Unseemly': In-House Counsel A Bit Put Off By Biglaw Salary Hikes

Don't try to pass the extra expense off on your clients, Biglaw.

onJune 11, 2021 at 4:30 PMJune 11, 2021 at 4:06 PM

This isn’t of too much consequence or import to us if firms don’t attempt to pass the cost through to clients in the form of higher rates. But even if they say they don’t/won’t, clients may tend to wonder.

It seems a bit tone-deaf and unseemly in this market and coming off of the pandemic (with so much economic dislocation) for firms to be raising salaries to these levels and talking publicly about bonuses and how well partners are doing. Discretion would be the much better part of valor here.

— the general counsel of a financial services company, commenting anonymously on the recent wave of salary increases that are rocking the Biglaw market in the wake of associate bonus payouts that could reach as high as $164K, depending on class year.

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.