It is hard to pick up a legal newspaper, read a blog or even converse with other lawyers these days without discussing the associate salary hike radiating out from New York like wildfire. Even if the salary increase itself is spreading more like an erratic tornado with a preference for coastal cities, the chatter surrounding it is certainly sweeping the nation. Who’s raised? Who’s going to raise? Who’s holding tough at $135K? Who’s waiting for the lemmings? For those who have raised, how is the raised structured for more senior associates?
With most annual salary increases limited to 3 percent or the current rate of inflation, I suppose it’s little wonder that a 7.4 percent increase in first-year associate base pay is catching the nation’s attention, particularly given the starting point of the analysis.
