Many firms were waiting to see what the compensation leaders were going to do. Now that one of those firms has made their move, I would anticipate that we will start to hear from other firms that traditionally have matched.
— Summer Eberhard, managing director in the associate practice group at recruiter Major Lindsey & Africa, commenting on how the Biglaw market will likely react to the new salary scale that was recently announced by Davis Polk. The new compensation scheme beats the Milbank scale by offering more money to midlevel and senior associates, and Eberhard says it “sends a signal to the more experienced attorneys at the firm the value that they bring.” According to Eberhard, experience also matters in the lateral hiring market right now. “[F]irms seem to be prioritizing experience more than they did last year,” she said.
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.