Biglaw

Biglaw Firm Implements Two-Tier Compensation System

What you make depends on what you bill.

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Now that it is July, and a large swath of Biglaw associates have had their recent raises hit their bank accounts, it’s easy to think the salary increase momentum has waned. But, there are still firms making their own compensation move, even if it is a little later than their peers.

Take Crowell & Moring, a firm that brought in $514,391,000 in gross revenue last year, making it 77th on the Am Law 100. They recently announced a new compensation system that tiers associates, based on how many hours they bill.

So, if you bill 2000+ hours, associates’ compensation range will be between $205,000 and $365,000, depending on class year. Which, not coincidentally, is the same salary range as the market leading DPW scale.

If you only make a 1900-hour target, then you fall into a reduced range of $185,00 to $340,000. Let’s peep at how the firm describes it to the incoming class of associates:

After their second year at the firm new associates will be placed in a tier, based on their billable history. You can read the full email on the next page.

And remember, 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, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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).

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