Biglaw Firm Raises Salaries -- Still Lags Behind Competition On Compensation
Will it be enough cash to keep associates happy?
Well, some money is better than no money. I’m sure that’s the mantra going through the heads of associates at Seyfarth Shaw.
Yesterday, the firm announced on an associate call that all associates are getting raises — to the tune of $20,000. Yay! The raises are retroactive to January 1, will be reflected in February 15th paychecks. But even with that sizable bump, the pay scale at the firm still lags behind the $225K standard set by Milbank/Cravath at the end of last year. Boo!
It’s probably not too much of a surprise — the firm has consistently fallen behind the top of Biglaw when it comes to compensation. The firm tends to be behind by about one raise cycle — in 2021, they were giving out 2018 salaries, in 2018, they gave out 2016 salaries. In fact, at the time of the 2021 raises, my colleague Joe Patrice predicted they’d match the 2021 scale in 2024…. And they’re right on schedule (though they’re actually $5K above the 2021 standard for first-years on the firm’s national scale).
While it may not be shocking the firm is behind on pay, tipsters at the firm say it is feeding associate dissatisfaction. The firm has also discussed revamping the bonus formula, but as an insider noted, “no one really expects it to be competitive…or that either will quell dissatisfaction…about half of the associates in my group are looking to lateral elsewhere.”
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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 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
