01/01/08
<<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.
