Just like the stock market, there seems to be no limit on the going rate for first-year associates.

And just as few anticipated the Dow would ever break 10,000, most D.C. managing partners never expected to be paying starting salaries in the six figures. Well, it’s happened. This year, the magic number is $100,000 – up $8,000 from the upper target that big D.C. firms paid their new lawyers last year.