Firm Announces Raises Coming In February
Better late than never... another firm raises salaries.
Just when you thought the salary increases were over, one holdout announced this week that it would join the ranks of what we’ve been calling “MoneyLaw” and pay associates the new Cravath scale of $180K/year.
At least for first-years.
At least in some offices.
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There’s a lot left unclear in this announcement, but it’s a start.
Earlier this week, Blank Rome LLP chairman Alan Hoffman informed all associates via a prerecorded message on a firmwide conference call that first-year salaries in the firm’s New York and D.C. offices would move to $180K. Meanwhile, those first-years working at the firm’s Philadelphia home office will move to $160K. Associates elsewhere will be paid the abundantly vague amount “commensurate with the market.”
That’s the good news. Left unclear of course is what happens beyond the first year. We do know that salaries beyond the first year are influenced by some alchemy of “performance” and “other factors,” so there’s bound to be some slippage from the proper Cravath scale for at least some associates. We’ve seen other firms tout their $180K number for recruiting purposes and then engage in “scrunching” behind the scenes, building a hefty gap between their mid-level and senior associate salaries and those offered by the Cravaths of the world. We won’t know more about Blank Rome’s intentions until associates get their official salary notifications in February.
But Blank Rome confirms that these raises will be retroactive to January 1st, which is terrific news for associates.
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As with a lot of salary bumps at firms outside the Cravath tier, the raise came with a commensurate increase in hourly minimums, with the bonus eligibility requirement moving from 1800 to the still relatively humane 1900 hours.
But one tipster zeroed in on the most vexing part of this news for associates:
No word on what the salaries will be for 2nd years and beyond, but everyone is pretty upset that we called into hear a prerecorded message that first years are getting a market bump when a simple email would have sufficed.
Yeah, what the hell, man? And it’s not even a conference call to hear a live presentation. No, they got everyone to call in at once to listen to a prerecorded message. How are you going to pay these new salaries if you’re screwing around like this?
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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.
