Many Am Law 200 firms with Southeast offices will likely not match, at least immediately, the increase in associate salaries set by Milbank, legal industry observers said.

Some Southeast law firms may have matched the last big pay scale increase that New York firms gave in early 2022, but a drop in overall demand for services and overcapacity means some are not feeling the competitive pressures for talent they felt during the hiring boom of 2020 and 2021, the recruiters said.