Miami’s talent market was already tight before the recent office announcements and hiring sprees of Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin and Winston & Strawn. Yet most national law firm associates were paid below market, and successful partners trailed the earnings of peers in New York.

To the extent that these firms and future Am Law 100 entrants hire locally to acquire the headcount and range of services that fulfill their stated ambitions, Florida-grown law firms will be in a tough spot. Among them, only Greenberg Traurig and Holland & Knight pay their associates top-of-market and their equity partners above $1 million on average; their profits per equity partner is still below that of the three recent entrants.