For The First Time In Ages, Associates Are In Control Of The Market
Money, power, success: grab it all while you can!
Right now firms are just feeling like, ‘We don’t really have that much of a choice.’ And I think the lawyers realize that and are going to be pushing for as much as they can get.
[Firms are] very cognizant of who has the leverage right now because they’re so busy, they literally can’t find enough people to get all the work done. That’s why you see these tremendous signing bonuses to associates, and the recent salary wars escalating again. [Firms are] very concerned about putting a line in the sand.
Here you may have a situation where the desires of the client are diametrically opposed to the wishes of a larger number of attorneys at the firm, both associate and partner alike. That has the potential to create significant tension within the firm and may even cause some attorneys to vote with their feet.
— Jeffrey Lowe, global practice leader of the law firm practice at Major, Lindsey & Africa, commenting on “very pro-attorney market” that law firms are dealing with in the wake of the pandemic. Individual associates and partners have more power, leverage, and autonomy now than they ever did before.
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.
