01/01/08 Law firm Williams & Connolly increased its annual salary for first-year associates to 0,000, which will take effect January 1, 2008. In 1988 Williams & Connolly raised its first-year pay from $60,000 to $70,000. In 1996 the firm raised it from $77,500 to $81,000 and in 2002 raised it from $130,000 to $140,000. Then, when Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett raised its first-year pay to $160,000, Williams & Connolly soon followed with $165,000. The question now is "Who will follow?" New York firms, which are usually the ones paying the highest salaries, may be close behind. "These salary wars are like the game of chicken, and it would not surprise me if select New York-based firms upped the ante by raising starting salaries to over $200,000," said Dan Binstock of BCG Attorney Search. Ward Bower, a consultant at Altman Weil, said, "I think it would be more of a problem if it were a bigger firm in New York. But the fact that that trumps the New York salaries indicates to me that top firms in New York are going to turn around and not only match it but beat it." However, Bower also thinks that some firms might say, "Well, you know, we're not going to play in that game. We're going to play in the major leagues, but we're not going to play the Yankees' salary." One thing to factor in to Williams & Connolly's large pay increase is that the firm does not give out year-end bonuses. Williams & Connolly is a litigation firm located in Washington, DC, with approximately 200 lawyers.

Rate This Article 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Select    View top rated articles

On The Net Williams & Connolly BCG Attorney Search Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett    Printable Version    PDF Version    Email to a Friend    Post A Comment    View Comment    Discuss

	Popular Tags
	leadership  Ward Bower  Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett  Yankees  New York  Altman Weil  Williams & Connolly  salary  wonders  consultants

Featured Testimonials

I was able to choose from multiple employment offers through LawCrossing and obtained my ideal job. Jeannette L.

Facts

LawCrossing Fact #125: Ask not what you can do for yourself; ask what we can do for you. Searching for a job is hard enough -- let us do most of the work!

"We want to hear your thoughts. Please comment on this article (below)!" Comments

Article ID: 3897     Article Title: First-Year Salaries at Law Firms Skyrocket Comment not found for this article. Comment

Facebook comments:

Enjoyed reading this article? Click here to sign up for News Wire, our weekly newsletter, and you'll receive articles just like this right in your inbox.

Enter your email address and start getting breaking law firm and legal news right now! Every Alert Alert once a day