Firm Raises First Year Salaries To Match Market But Midlevels And Seniors Aren't Feeling The Love
Why do firms keep doing this?
A well-worn law firm compensation trick is to make a big announcement that the firm will be matching the prevailing market salary for first-year associates and then conveniently keep mum about what’s happening to all the other attorneys. The “$190K” sticker price is a boon for law school recruiting, and many don’t bother to ask if the firm keeps pace with its peers beyond that.
Kilpatrick Townsend’s new compensation memo appears to be following this route.
Effective January 1, 2019, our starting salary for first-year associates in California, Colorado, New York and Washington, D.C. will increase to $190,000. Our starting salary for first-year associates in Atlanta and North Carolina will increase to $165,000. Our starting salary for first-year associates on our IP teams in Seattle will increase to $190,000. Our starting salaries in our other offices and practice areas will increase $10,000. Associates throughout the firm will receive salary adjustments depending on the location, practice area, experience level and performance of the associate. Eligible associates will receive salary adjustments effective January 2019.
Stuck Drafting A Tough Brief? This Tool Can Help.
It’s that vagueness about compensation for associates throughout the firm that has seniors worried. Long-time readers may remember that this is exactly what they did in 2016, moving to $180K in key markets and leaving seniors in the dark. At least this time the Seattle IP associates got the full bump — last time they stayed $20K below market.
More senior associates aren’t pleased:
They’re basically using the mid level and senior associates to fund the first year associate raises. First years are almost never profitable at our firm, so this is just a big slap in the face. I have already spoken to three associates at the firm (and the memo only went out 90 minutes ago) who are immediately going to start looking for new jobs.
The tragedy of the midlevel. First-years are almost always useless, which is not a knock but a fact of an academic model that largely pushes off real practical instruction on the firms. But at least some firms recognize this by showing those senior attorneys some love.
Sponsored
The Global Legal News You Need, When You Need It
Legal Knowledge Management To Drive Dealmaking
The Global Legal News You Need, When You Need It
And they’re upping their billable hour requirement, so there’s that.
In a sense, law firms are experiencing an “NBA Draft problem.” Several years ago, NBA teams found themselves breaking the bank on rookie contracts for unproven high school prospects that never panned out. So they all agreed to force kids into “gussied up servitude” by making them spend a year in college before they could be drafted. The point is, law firms are so smitten with building their ranks on potential that they feel they have to pay top dollar for raw talent. And that’s all well and good as long as you don’t skimp on the veterans who get the job done day in and day out.
Because when you build your firm entirely on potential, you can come to work one day and find that hotshot first-year is just a bust.
(Full memo, next page, you know the drill.)
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of this stuff. So when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). 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.
Sponsored
What Do Millennials Think Of Law Firm Life?
Stuck Drafting A Tough Brief? This Tool Can Help.
And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts (which is the alert list we’ll also use for salary announcements), please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish.
Earlier: $180,000 For First-Years, ??? For Everyone Else
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.
