Boutique Law Firms

An Awesome October Surprise For Associates: Raises That Beat The Cravath Scale

Very exciting news for associates!

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money pumpkinHalloween is nearly upon us, and while some firms are offering associates tricks in the form of layoffs, others have taken it as an incentive to hand out raises for associates, just like candy. Which firm is the latest to offer associates the best treat of all — i.e., more money?

That would be Edelson PC, the plaintiffs side tech/privacy class-action firm known for hiring top talent away from the ranks of the Biglaw elite. Not long ago, the firm increased salaries for first-year associates, such that their compensation has soared even higher than what’s being offered on the generous Cravath scale. How much higher, you ask?

In a recent interview with Law360, founding partner Jay Edelson disclosed that first-years at the firm will now be taking home $225,000, an increase of $35,000. The most junior associates at Edelson will now be earning what second-year Biglaw associates take home, and that’s not even counting big-time bonuses that the firm offers. Edelson is said to rely heavily on bonuses when it comes to compensation for its more senior associates (though its first-years still receive bonuses that easily best Biglaw’s pro-rated bonus bucks). Bonuses at Edelson are rumored to rival and often surpass what’s dished out by large law firms, often with no ceiling on the cash that’s being offered.

Edelson doesn’t think his firm is competing with Biglaw as far as talent and salaries go. When he spoke with Law360, Edelson said, “To the extent that there is a competition they have lost.” Here’s an excerpt from that interview:

[T]hey argue that the pay is better, but that’s not true either. We just upped our first year pay to $225,000, which I think is more than Biglaw. And we didn’t do it because we had to. Plaintiffs firms are able to make decisions not based on market forces. We know people are looking for jobs, and we could have kept pay at $190,000 and still found people. But the nice thing about having a plaintiffs firm is that you kind of get to do what you want. And we’ve had a few really exceptional years and it’s important to us for our employees to share in that.

At Edelson, it’s not just about the cash, it’s about the culture, too. If you’re a young lawyer who cares about societal issues and wants to make an impact, this may be the firm for you. Congratulations to all first-years at Edelson, and to everyone else who may soon be receiving a hefty bonus at the firm!

As a little reminder, we love covering associate salary increases and bonuses, but we need your help. As soon as your firm’s bonus memo comes out, please email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus/Raise”). We always keep our sources on bonus stories anonymous. There’s no need to send the memo using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. Please be sure to include the memo as proof; we like to post complete bonus memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file.

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Jay Edelson On Paying 1st-Years $225K And Hiring From Yale [Law360]

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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