Big Law Cogs who’ve managed to survive round after round of layoffs now are reeling from the latest hit to come their way: a pay cut propelled by the continuing decline in partner profits.
Big Law has announced it will slash associate pay by 10 to 15 percent. For example, many first-year Cogs are seeing their annual compensation roll back from the peak market rates of $145,000 down to around $125,000. By my calculations, that means these latest cuts have reduced the take-home pay of many Cogs by roughly $1,200 to $1,500 per month — unless, of course, your firm made the cut retroactive and is taking back the first half of this year’s salary in the last half of the year, which means your monthly reduction is closer to $3,000. Ouch.