Firm Announces Raises... Kinda Screws Over The Older Folks
Older associates are getting the shaft in this raise announcement.
Brown Rudnick’s website features the PR-approved line:
Throw out the old paradigm. In fact, throw out the word paradigm — and anything else tired, trite, sluggish or slow.
Apparently, one disposable “old paradigm” idea is treating your senior associates to market salaries. Throw that idea out the window! We’ve been waiting on the “bad news” announcements. Firms that won’t match will more or less stay radio silent, but we always knew some firm would make an announcement that just screws over a class or two. No sooner do we see a firm blow away the scale than we have our first real “not quite there” firm.
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As a refresher, the conventional salary structure is 180/190/210/235/260/280/300/315… and some firms go to 325 for that last year and up. It’s been a point of contention whether or not a firm gives that extra raise to the Class of ’07 and beyond or not. Brown Rudnick, on the other hand, cuts off its salary structure at $300K. From their salary memo:
1st year $180,000
2nd year $190,000
3rd year $210,000
4th year $235,000
5th year $260,000
6th year $280,000
7th/7+ year $300,000
I’d love this scale if it weren’t for the “7+” in there. If they were saying “after seventh year we move people to partner or counsel as a matter of course” that’d be one thing. But that “7+” suggests they have some senior folks kicking around and they just ain’t gettin’ raises. Income partners are also left in the vague “we also continue to monitor” world. Sorry folks. Make it rain or get used to not having an umbrella!
That’s a real kick in the shins for those senior folks. Perhaps it’s time to make full, equity partner, or find a firm that treats its elders a little better.
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But for the rest of the Brown Rudnick team, congrats!
UPDATE (10:45 a.m.): I also failed to clarify… this is only for the NYC office. So D.C., Boston, Hartford, Orange County, and Providence are left out. Not sure if that’s a bad thing or not, but worth noting as many firms are making U.S.-wide announcements.
The full text of the memo is reproduced on the next page….
Remember, when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches Cravath”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.
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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
