The following is a sampling of hourly rates charged by law firms that establish billing rates based on associate class. The name of each firm is followed by its number of attorneys and the location of its principal or largest office. The firms reported the data as part of The National Law Journal‘s 2008 survey of the nation’s 250 largest law firms.

The 2008 NLJ Billing Survey is available in downloadable Excel format from ALM Research.

Bass, Berry & Sims (211),  Nashville, Tenn.
1st $180  
   
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione (171),  Chicago
1st $240 5th $335
2d $260 6th $360
3d $280 7th $385
4th $305  8th $405
   
Bryan Cave (852),  St. Louis
1st $160-$285 5th $265-$400
2d $175-$285  6th $280-$415
3d $200-$330 7th $295-$440
4th $205-$360 8th $300-$460
   
Butzel Long (243),  Detroit
1st $180  
   
Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle (235), New York
1st $290 5th $455
2d $335 6th $495
3d $375 7th $535
4th $415 8th $575
   
Davis Wright Tremaine (467), Seattle
1st $229 5th $307
2d $246  6th $325
3d $264 7th $340
4th $281 8th $354
   
Day Pitney (405), Florham Park, N.J.
1st$220-$250 5th $295-$360
2d $240-$270 6th $310-$415
3d $255-$310 7th $335-$460
4th $280-$340 8th $335-$435
   
Dickinson Wright (228), Detroit
1st $180 5th $210
2d $185 6th $225
3d $190 7th $245
4th $200 8th $265
   
Dickstein Shapiro (403), Washington
1st $250-$275 5th $395-$435
2d $300-$350 6th $395-$435
3d $350-$395 7th $435-$475
4th $350-$395 8th $435-$475
   
Dinsmore & Shohl (347), Cincinnati 
1st $170 5th $215
2d $180 6th $225
3d $195 7th $235
4th $205 8th $245
   
Dorsey & Whitney (670), Minneapolis
1st $230 5th $330
2d $250 6th $365
3d $275 7th $430
4th $285  
   
Fredrikson & Byron (233), Minneapolis
1st $195 5th $265
2d $210 6th $280
3d $225 7th $300
4th $245  
   
Gardere Wynne Sewell (281), Dallas
1st $210 5th $300
2d $230 6th $325
3d $260 7th $350
4th $280 8th $375
   
Hiscock & Barclay (187), Syracuse, N.Y.
1st $145-$300 5th $160-$360
2d $145-$300 6th $170-$380
3d $160-$360 7th $170-$380
4th $160-$360 8th $180-$430
   
Hogan & Hartson (1,175), Washington
1st $290 5th $420
2d $330 6th $450
3d $360  7th $480
4th $390 8th $510
   
Holland & Hart (406), Denver
1st $215 4th $275
2d $235 5th $295
3d $255 6th $305
   
Jackson Kelly (187), Charleston, W.Va.
1st $150 5th $219
2d $170 6th $238
3d $186 7th $257
4th $202  
   
Jenner & Block (482), Chicago
1st $325 5th $445
2d $350 6th $470
3d $375 7th $495
4th $410 8th $495
   
Kelley Drye & Warren (378), New York
1st $295 5th $410
2d $320 6th $430
3d $345 7th $455
4th $390 8th $480
   
Kilpatrick Stockton (466), Atlanta
1st $240 5th $305
2d $250 6th $320
3d $270 7th $340
4th $285 8th $360
   
Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear (249), Irvine, Calif.
1st $245 4th $325
2d $275 5th $350
3d $300  
   
Lewis, Rice & Fingersh (164), St. Louis
1st $160 5th $270
2d $190 6th $285
3d $225 7th $298
4th $250 8th $305
   
Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell (707), Dallas
1st $225 5th $285
2d $250 6th $290
3d $260 7th $295
4th $275 8th $300
   
Loeb & Loeb (310), New York
1st $300-$325 5th $425-$450
2d $325-$360 6th $450-$475
3d $360-$400 7th $475-$500
4th $400-$425  
   
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (358), Los Angeles
1st $290 5th $440
2d $325 6th $460
3d $365 7th $485
4th $410 8th $505
   
McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter (232), Morristown, N.J.
1st $135 5th $180
2d $165 6th $185
3d $170 7th $190
4th $175  
   
McKee Nelson (202), New York
1st $395 5th $555
2d $415 6th $585
3d $480 7th $615-$625
4th $505-$525 8th $630
   
Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads (151), Philadelphia
1st $210 5th $275
2d $220 6th $295
3d $240 7th $320
4th $260 8th $340
   
Nixon Peabody (699), Boston
1st $297 5th $409
2d $324 6th $433
3d $353 7th $450
4th $382 8th $463
   
   
Patton Boggs* (529), Washington
1st $275 5th $385
2d $300 6th $405
3d $325 7th $430
4th $350 8th $455
(*Rates given are for the Washington office.)
   
Perkins Coie (632), Seattle
1st $263 5th $320
2d $276 6th $340
3d $284 7th $380
4th $316  
   
Phillips Lytle (179), Buffalo, N.Y.
1st $160 5th $200
2d $170 6th $205
3d $180 7th $220
4th $185 8th $230
   
Quarles & Brady (450), Milwaukee
1st $204 5th $259
2d $220 6th $271
3d $236 7th $289
4th $247 8th $302
   
Robinson & Cole (215), Hartford, Conn.
1st $220 5th $265
2d $230 6th $280
3d $240 7th $295
4th $250 8th $310
   
Rutan & Tucker (140), Costa Mesa, Calif.
1st $230 5th $305
2d $245 6th $325
3d $260 7th $350
4th $285  
   
Saul Ewing (231), Philadelphia
1st $215-$230 5th $255
2d $205-$260 6th $240-$280
3d $215-$235 7th $270-$320
4th $225-$245 8th $260-$300
   
Schulte Roth & Zabel (481), New York
1st $365* 5th $530
2d $420 6th $550
3d $470 7th $570
4th $510 8th $585
(*$255 for the associate’s first four months)
   
Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold (380), San Francisco
1st $220* 4th $232
2d $224 5th $237
3d $234 6th $240
(*$225 in New York)
   
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton (458), Los Angeles
1st $275 5th $390
2d $310 6th $415
3d $335 7th $435
4th $365 8th $455
   
Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick (180), Toledo, Ohio
1st $195  
2d $200  
   
Steptoe & Johnson LLP (506), Washington
1st $275 5th $425
2d $315 6th $445
3d $355 7th $465
4th $395  8th $480
   
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC (182), Clarksburg, W.Va.
1st $170  
   
Sullivan & Worcester (182), Boston
1st $270 4th $330
2d $285 5th $350
3d $310  
   
Thompson Hine (396), Cleveland
1st $200 5th $250
2d $215 6th $265
3d $215 7th $265
4th $225  8th $285
   
Thompson & Knight (458), Dallas
1st $250 5th $365
2d $280 6th $385
3d $315 7th $405
4th $345 8th $420
   
Vedder Price (265), Chicago
1st $235 5th $305
2d $250 6th $325
3d $270  7th $340
4th $290 8th $360
   
White & Case (2,205), New York
1st $365 5th $620
2d $460 6th $635
3d $550 7th $655
4th $600 8th $665
   
Winstead (281), Dallas 
1st $215 5th $310
2d $230 6th $325
3d $260 7th $335
4th $285 8th $345