The Firms That Are Losing The Battle In Biglaw's Salary Wars
Pay your associates fairly now, or pay the price later. The choice is up to you.
It’s officially been more than one month since Cravath announced its new $180K salary scale. More than 100 firms began falling over themselves to match the now-prevailing market salary scale. Other firms, however, have lagged behind, refusing to get on board with the new realities of the market, effectively thrusting themselves and their associates into a second-class salary tier.
Associates at these firms are clearly very unhappy, but at this point, what’s to be done? Aside from waiting to see if their firms will ever offer market compensation, their only other option is to get in touch with a headhunter who they trust and make an effort to lateral to any one of the hundred-plus firms that have decided to raise associate salaries.
These firms stand not only to lose Biglaw’s salary wars, but potentially hundreds of their associates and new recruits. Law school on-campus recruiting is right around the corner, and these firms are doing themselves a major disservice. Who in their right mind would want to take a summer associate position at a firm that’s paying less-than market salary?
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There are still hundreds of top-ranked firms that have refused to budge on associate salaries, but today, we’ll take a look at the few, the proud (for no reason, since they’re now offering subpar salaries to their employees), the firms with profits per partner of more than $900K to over $1 million that have failed to raise salaries.
It’s high time that partners at these firms spread the wealth. At this point, their refusal to step up their associate salaries is only solidifying their firms’ new home in the depths of shame and embarrassment. Pay your associates fairly now, or pay the price later.
The choice is up to you. Choose wisely, because your law firm’s fate depends on it.
Firm | Am Law 100/200 Rank ’16 | Vault 100 Rank ’17 | Am Law 200 PPP Rank ’16 |
Perkins Coie | 42 | 56 | 85: $1.10M |
Holland & Knight | 43 | 64 | 70: $1.25M |
Foley & Lardner | 49 | 72 | 81: $1.13M |
McGuireWoods | 52 | 81 | 89: $1.05M |
Seyfarth | 58 | 88 | 92: $1.02M |
Hunton & Williams | 62 | 82 | 101: $950K |
Fragomen | 65 | N/A | 39: $1.85M |
Nixon Peabody | 71 | 67 | 109: $910K |
Duane Morris | 72 | 95 | 112: $900K |
Pepper Hamilton | 82 | 92 | 91: $1.03M |
Mintz Levin | 92 | 91 | 87: $1.07M |
Manatt | 101 | N/A | 65: $1.39M |
Arent Fox | 113 | 79 | 104: $940K |
Schiff Hardin | 115 | N/A | 96: $980K |
Loeb & Loeb | 125 | N/A | 64: $1.43M |
Vedder Price | 126 | N/A | 105: $930K |
Winstead | 137 | N/A | 98: $980K |
Wiley Rein | 139 | N/A | 83: $1.11M |
Moore & Van Allen | 152 | N/A | 100: $970K |
Robins Kaplan | 154 | N/A | 78: $1.15M |
Brownstein | 156 | N/A | 112: $900K |
Curtis | 163 | N/A | 68: $1.35M |
Allen Matkins | 164 | N/A | 108: $910K |
BuckleySandler | 170 | N/A | 18: $2.62M |
Morris Manning | 175 | N/A | 86: $1.07M |
McElroy Deutsch | 176 | N/A | 96: $980K |
Herrick | 179 | N/A | 112: $900K |
Jeffer Mangels | 186 | N/A | 50: $1.69M |
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Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.