The decision by White & Case and Hunton & Williams to sharply boost their associate pay rates has unleashed a powerful force: greed.

Web sites and Internet chat rooms set up for associate gossip and griping clearly signal that money is a top priority for a sizable number of South Florida associates, and their appetites for more have been ignited by the two large firms’ decisions to stanch the flow of associates to dot-come start-ups by increasing their pay.