Looking to best position itself to compete for top law school talent with intellectual property credentials, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld raised starting salaries in its Philadelphia office to $115,000. The firm also upped its first-year wages to $125,000 in its main Washington, D.C., office as well as in New York and Los Angeles.
With its Center City office consisting mainly of attorneys from Panitch Schwarze Jacobs & Nadel — its merger partner from last year — Akin Gump officials said the firm had to match the standard for local IP boutiques. That standard was set last month by Woodcock Washburn Kurtz Mackiewicz & Norris, which raised its starting salaries to $115,000 from $90,000. Akin Gump alerted its associates it was doing the same yesterday.
