Biglaw

Am Law Top 50 Firm Finally Weighs In On New Compensation For Associates

New salaries will be given to 'mostly all associates.'

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(Image via Getty)

We’re now into the first full week of July, and we’re still hearing about Biglaw firms that have finally decided to match the new market starting salary of $205,000 for first-year associates. Some of those firms, however, seem to be doing things a little differently.

Last week, we heard rumors that K&L Gates — a firm that brought in $1,019,674,000 gross revenue in 2020, landing it at No. 40 on the most recent Am Law 100 ranking — called a meeting for associates to announce that the firm would be matching the new salary scale. Those who attended were told that “mostly all associates” would receive individualized emails concerning their new salaries. “Mostly all associates”? Why not all? Hmm….

On Friday, an insider at the firm let us know that “some” associates had received word about their raises that day. Sources say the firm didn’t supply a compensation scale, but that those who were “lucky to get a increase” received an email from Amy Horn, the chief people officer of K&L Gates, which stated the following:

I am writing in follow-up to messages you would have received from your Office Managing Partner or their designee regarding the Firm’s market based associate compensation adjustments. You will find on Peoplesoft a letter confirming your revised annual salary by clicking HERE. This will be your compensation beginning on July 1 and behind. This will be reflected in your paycheck received on Thursday, July 22.

Congratulations to those at the firm who received individualized salary increases on the $205K scale. To those who still haven’t heard about their new compensation (or won’t be receiving raises at all), may the odds be ever in your favor for more money — the firm certainly has enough of it to go around.

(Flip to the next page to see the memo from K&L Gates.)

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Staci ZaretskyStaci 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.

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