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• Jones Day announces pay rise for trainees, while Links raises all pay levels

  May 04 2012 Jones Day has announced a pay rise for trainees in its London office, increasing the starting salary from £39,000 to £41,000, with pay to be reviewed every year in... more

• US firms in Hong Kong attract top talent with big money

  Feb 08 2012 The legal services market in Hong Kong has long been dominated by British firms, but US law firms are now a potent force, attracting top talent by offer larger... more

• University of Chicago Law School publishes employment data

  Dec 17 2011 US law schools have come under fire for a failure to provide sufficient graduate employment data to prospective students. While students continue to enroll in law... more

• Assistant dean at University of Illinois falsified admissions data for money

  Nov 17 2011 The former assistant dean of admissions at the University of Illinois law school falsified LSAT and GPA data in order to increase his own salary, according to a final... more

• US survey reports increased pay for in-house lawyers

  Nov 17 2011 Things are looking good for US in-house lawyers, who are seeing higher base salaries, bigger cash bonusus, larger total cash compensation, and higher total... more

• Survey shows salary against cost of living in US cities

  Oct 29 2011 A new survey by the National Association for Law Placement has indexed median private practice salaries against the cost of living in 70 US cities to determine where... more

• Robert Half Legal compares US and Canadian salary statistics

  Oct 25 2011 Legal placement firm Robert Half Legal has released its annual Salary Guide, which tracks trends in legal compensation and hiring in the US and Canada. The survey... more

• A good year for top equity partners: the million pound club is growing

  Aug 15 2011 The top end of the pay scale in the legal profession is making a recovery, according to a survey conducted by The Lawyer to assess how many equity partners are seeing... more

• Graduates in Nevada face a tough job market

  Jul 29 2011 Law graduates in the US state of Nevada face a tough job market and declining pay, according to reports. The State Bar of Nevada has published a survey showing that... more

• Recent graduates in the US are earning less, says NALP

  Jul 07 2011 The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) has reported that recent graduates are earning less than their predecessors. The new NALP study shows that the median... more

• 12 year pay freeze for New York judges

  Jul 05 2011 Here is an interesting article about the remuneration of judges in New York, where the bench hasn’t seen a pay rise in 12 years. According to the article, judges have... more

• Pay gap between US and UK law firms widens

  Jul 05 2011 The pay gap between lawyers in the UK and thos in the US is widening, with a new survey showing that magic circle firms pay newly qualified lawyers around £61,000 US... more

• Slaughter and May announces marginal salary increases

  May 05 2011 Slaughter and May is the first magic circle firm to announce its 2011 salaries. The firm is giving a modest increase to junior associates of between 1.5 per cent and 3... more

• US News ranks law schools on basis of graduate starting salary

  Mar 31 2011 US News, those inventive list makers, has come up with yet another ranking system for prospective law students: “10 Law Degrees With Most Financial Value at... more

• What do you get for $5 mill? DLA Piper's newest recruit

  Mar 02 2011 Last month DLA Piper announced the hire of James Wareham, the former head of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker's global litigation practice, who joined the firm with... more

• Karnataka CJ declares assets and 20 judges follow suit

  Jan 31 2011 Karnataka High Court Chief Justice has set the ball rolling by being the first Chief Justice to disclose his assets and liabilities on the Karnataka High Court’s... more

• Slaughter and May increases bonuses and marginally raises salaries

  Nov 04 2010 Slaughter and May has announced an imminent increase in its firmwide bonus, as well as a marginal increase in the baseline salary for associates. All fee earners,... more

• Above The Law conducts small-firm salary survey

  Oct 26 2010 Above the Law has conducted a small-firm salary survey. The survey attempts to discover how salaries correlate with experience, including the question of whether... more

• A new caste system for lawyers

  Oct 06 2010 This article contains some interesting insights on the state of play in the legal services industry after the recession. The main thrust of the article is a... more

• Salary survey: non-equity partners

  Sep 27 2010 RollOnFriday has conducted an unofficial survey to determine how much salaried partners are getting paid. Their report finds that salaried partners at the biggest... more

• Bird & Bird cuts associate pay

  Aug 09 2010 Bird & Bird has cut associate pay by £2,000, bucking the trend for London firms, who generally seem to be raising salaries rather than cutting them. Under the new... more

• Former DLA Piper partner found guilty of forging payroll statement in salary negotiations

  Mar 25 2010 Rudy Lim, formerly a partner with DLA Piper and head of the firm’s Indonesia practice, has been sentenced to two months’ jail time for forging a payroll statement,... more

• Morrison & Foerster raises first-year salaries back to $160K

  Feb 19 2010 Morrison & Foerster has raised first-year salaries back to $160,000. The US law firm had lowered starting salaries outside of New York and Asia to $145,000 in October.... more

• Are Merit-Based Pay Switchovers Simply Hidden Salary Cuts?

  Feb 18 2010 Lockstep compensation for associates appears to be the latest casualty of the recession. Last July, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe dropped it in favor of a... more

• Bingham first US firm to pay new City associates 100,000 £

  Feb 16 2010 Bingham McCutchen LLP is paying newly qualified lawyers 100,000 pounds ($157,000) in its London office. Bingham is the first U.S. firm to pay six figures for new... more

• Simmons & Simmons dumps bonus scheme after just one year

  Jan 26 2010 Simmons & Simmons is overhauling the non-equity partner bonus scheme it introduced at the beginning of the 2008-09 financial year after not one person... more

• McDermott Will & Emery to cut associate salaries

  Jan 13 2010 McDermott Will & Emery is moving to a three tiered merit based compensation system, beginning in 2011. Associates on the bottom tier will have a base salary of... more

• Latham & Watkins raises associate salaries for 2010

  Jan 05 2010 According to legal blog Above The Law, the executive committee at Latham & Watkins LLP has announced the following new salary structure for its associates: Class of... more

• Weil Gotshal pays associates bonuses of up to $50k

  Dec 28 2009 Weil Gotshal & Manges, known for its lucrative bankruptcy practice, is paying associates with strong ratings bonuses of between $7,500 and $35,000. Top-performing... more

• Who's next? Wilmer freezes salaries and drops lockstep

  Dec 17 2009 Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is the latest US law firms to abandon lockstep compensation for associates. Wilmer will freeze all associate salaries for 2010... more

• Analysts expect further pay cuts for US associates

  Dec 11 2009 In 2009, many major US law firms have cut entry-level pay by $15,000 to $30,000 USD. Before the recession began, first-year associate salaries had risen to $160,000 in... more

• Slaughters opts to cut bonus in half and continue salary freeze

  Oct 30 2009 Slaughter and May has halved its flat rate bonus for all fee earners and confirmed that its salary freeze will continue for the remainder of the financial year. The... more

• BigLaw associate pay to be cut to $100k?

  Sep 09 2009 Some big US law firms are cutting annual pay for new associates from $160,000 to $145,000, but Jim Cotterman, principal with law firm consultants Altman Weil, say the... more

• Lovells lawyers paid less than cleaners?

  Aug 28 2009 Lovells is offering jobs to lawyers at as little as £9 an hour --- paying less than for cleaners who are asking around £10 an hour for occasional jobs in central... more

• UK law firm Burges Salmon to cut up to 31 jobs

  Aug 25 2009 Burges Salmon, which has offices in Bristol and London, will launch an new redundancy consultation round, with 31 jobs under threat. Burges Salmon is also freezing... more

• Taylor Wessing staff in uproar over expensive rebrand

  Aug 20 2009 Staff at Taylor Wessing have been expressing their anger after the firm launched an expensive rebrand - just after cutting salaries and making redundancies in response... more

• Waitress job pays more than small law firms

  Aug 17 2009 Recent Penn State law school graduate Bobbi-Sue Doyle-Hazard has discovered a sad reality as she works as a waitress at a Boston steak restaurant and goes on... more

• Camerons, Eversheds, Simmons plan merit-based compensation

  Jul 24 2009 UK law firms CMS Cameron McKenna, Eversheds and Simmons & Simmons have launched reviews expected to usher in merit-driven compensation for associates, reports legalweek. more

• Troutman Sanders cuts associate salary by 10 per cent

  Jul 23 2009 Troutman Sanders LLP announced yesterday that the firm will cut associate pay by 10 per cent in total, effective Aug. 1. Pay cuts at the 700-lawyer firm will vary... more

• FoxMandal suspends Delhi salaries due to cashflow problems

  Jul 22 2009 FoxMandal Little, which has expanded significantly over the past year, has witheld payment from its lawyers in Delhi. Managing partner Som Mandal said, that payment... more

• US law firms still flashing the cash for UK associates

  Jul 17 2009 Despite salary cuts and freezes, newly qualified lawyers (NQs) in London remain among of the highest-paid graduates in the UK. Latham & Watkins pays its NQs... more

• Weil Gotshal cuts new associate salary in the City to £85,000

  Jul 08 2009 US law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges reduces pay for UK trainee solicitors due to qualify in September 2009 by 5.6 per cent from £90,000 to £85,000. more

• Blank Rome cuts associate salaries by $15,000

  Jul 06 2009 Blank Rome LLP confirmed that it is cutting the salaries of its most associates in response to similar reductions at competing law firms. Starting salaries at Blank... more

• Snell & Wilmer cuts associate salaries 10 percent

  Jul 01 2009 425-lawyer firm Snell & Wilmer LLP, one of Phoenix’s largest law firms, is cutting associates’ salaries by 10 percent reacting to the real estate downturn and a pull... more

• Schnader Harrison cuts associate salaries by $10,000

  Jul 01 2009 Philadelphia-based Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis has cut its associate salaries by $10,000 across the board while partners have agreed to take a 5 percent cut in... more

• Study: Sharp disparities in law firm associate salaries

  Jun 30 2009 According to a National Association for Law Placement (NALP) survey of starting associate salaries for 2008 law graduates the pay gap for new attorneys was wider than... more

• Howrey associates to earn $100K in new training program

  Jun 23 2009 US law firm Howrey announced a new two-year training program that will offer "meaningful training" for "select" first-year associates. Associates participating in... more

• Mayer Brown associates take pay cuts to work in-house

  Jun 02 2009 Mayer Brown is paying some of its associates to work in-house at corporate clients. But there is a catch: The associates’ pay is reduced to $60,000 plus benefits, from... more

• DLA Piper Cuts Starting Pay to $145K, Apparently May Eliminate Lockstep

  May 18 2009 A major BigLaw firm has joined a small but growing list of well-known law firms that have recently announced associate salary reductions. Plus, DLA Piper is also... more

• Drinker Biddle cuts starting pay

  May 14 2009 Philadelphia-based Drinker Biddle & Reath will cut starting salaries for its 37 first-year associates joining in September to $105,000 from $145,000 during the minimum... more

• Bonuses will be paid but salaries remain the same at McDermott

  Mar 18 2009 McDermott Will & Emery may have exceeded the market in some cases with its bonus payments for 2008, which were better than expected. Despite this, the firm decided to... more

• Dewey & LeBoeuf cuts pay of 66 partners by 80 percent

  Mar 15 2009 Dewey & LeBoeuf has cut pay for 66 partners by as much as 80 percent over the past 15 months, reports the Am Law Daily. Lower-tier partners have saw drastic... more

• Ashurst, Simmons & Simmons freeze pay

  Mar 12 2009 UK firms join Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy in freezing salaries in a bid to avoid further job cuts. Rates for newly-qualified lawyers at Ahsurst... more

• Small law firms cut back attorneys and salaries

  Mar 03 2009 Smaller law firms that see themselves as alternatives to bigger, more bottom-line-focused rivals are resorting to the same cost-cutting tactics of megafirms to weather... more

• Wilson Sonsini cuts 113 jobs, freezes associate salaries

  Feb 09 2009 Palo Alto-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, one of of the largest law firms in Silicon Valley, has announced it is laying off 45 lawyers and 68 staff members.... more

• DLA Piper secretly raises target hours for associates

  Feb 04 2009 DLA Piper has found itself in trouble with its assistants after increasing target hours from 1500 to 1600. Without telling them, says UK legal gossip website... more

• Bad times for 3Ls: Fewer Jobs, Less Pay

  Jan 28 2009 As news of new law firm layoffs and associate pay freezes breaks almost daily, third-year law students are anticipating a rough landing into the post-graduate world of... more

• Linklaters announces bonus cutbacks for US associates

  Jan 07 2009 Linklaters has confirmed that it is halving last year’s bonus rates for US associates. The firm told US associates that they will be awarded bonuses ranging between... more

• Law firms hold down pay for associates in 2009

  Jan 05 2009 Base pay for US first-year associates rose about 30 percent to $160,000 over the last three years, but those days seem to be over as the economic downturn reaches the... more

• Sullivan & Cromwell and Cadwalader cut back bonuses

  Dec 22 2008 Associates at Sullivan & Cromwell and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft will receive leaner year-end bonuses this year. Sullivan & Cromwell announced that year-end... more

• Blog: Skadden bonuses $35K to $65K

  Dec 19 2008 Skadden pays its associates year-end bonuses of $35,000 to $65,000, according to the legal blog Above the Law. This is well above what many of its major-firm... more

• Sullivan & Cromwell cuts associate bonuses

  Dec 19 2008 Sullivan & Cromwell told its associates yesterday to expect lower bonuses, but indicated that their salaries will rise in 2009. First-years at Sullivan earn a base... more

• Latham & Watkins freezes associate salaries for 2009

  Dec 17 2008 Latham & Watkins is the first major law firm to freeze associate pay levels for 2009. While a number of US firms have announced that they are to reduce bonuses, Latham... more

• Associates sue Thelen over lost wages

  Nov 26 2008 Three Thelen associates and a staff member filed suit against Thelen in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that the firm... more

• US associate pay holds steady

  Oct 01 2008 As law firms grapple with the fallout from the current financial crisis, starting associate pay is likely to hold steady for a while, according to a special associates... more

• Big California firms pay associates $160K to $265K

  Sep 11 2008 The “vast majority" of the 17 law firms that responded to survey by the Recorder pay their associates lockstep compensation that begins at $160,000. The firms... more

• U.S. first nation with 200 accredited law schools

  Jul 07 2008 The United States has become the world's first nation of 200 accredited law schools, as the American Bar Association gave provisional approval to two North Carolina... more

• Baker & McKenzie raises City pay and makes promotions

  Jul 03 2008 Baker & McKenzie has given modest pay rises to associates at most levels at the same time as promoting six to its partnership. Newly qualified lawyers will earn... more

• Salary sparring continues in the City

  Jun 29 2008 Two leading City firms have reversed their earlier decisions to freeze pay. Olswang has upped its NQ salaries to £63,500 despite earlier announcing it was not going to... more

• Herbert Smith reverses decision to freeze salaries

  Jun 22 2008 Herbert Smith has become the second firm in recent weeks to renege on its decision to freeze junior lawyer salaries. The top ten City law firm announced today (19... more

• CMS Camerons salary rises keep pace with magic circle

  May 31 2008 CMS Cameron McKenna has raised its trainee and newly-qualified (NQ) salaries by an average of three per cent as it bids to keep pace with the magic circle. First year... more

• UK male solicitors £19,000-a-year better off than female colleagues

  May 26 2008 The gender pay gap is still a huge problem in the legal profession according to comprehensive survey by the Law Society. more

• UK law firm salary reviews: a bit of an anticlimax

  May 21 2008 There were several pay-freezes and a couple of modest increases in this year's first round of associate salary reviews, unlike during the previous downturn there have... more

• Four percent hike lifts Lovells NQs to £65k

  May 20 2008 Newly-qualified solicitors (NQs) at Lovells will now take home £65,000 after the City heavyweight announced pay rises for its junior lawyers. The move lifts NQ pay... more

• Lawyer Swaps Big Salary to Represent Detainees

  May 20 2008 Tina Monshipour Foster was a fourth-year associate in the midtown Manhattan office of Clifford Chance LLP, one of the world's largest law firms, with annual pay of... more

• Salary reviews - Freshfields leads Magic Circle

  May 11 2008 Following the recent salary reviews, RollOnFriday has published a detailed "Table of Dosh" currently including City law firms such as Shearman & Sterling, Freshfields,... more

• Allen & Overy freezes associate salaries

  May 10 2008 Allen & Overy has frozen its associate salaries in a surprising decision that completes the magic circle’s round of conservative salary reviews this year. A&O newly... more

• Clifford Chance anounces 4% pay-rises to match rivals

  May 09 2008 Pay for newly-qualified lawyers at Clifford Chance is increasing from £63,500 to £66,600 – equal to what Linklaters pays and just above the £66,000 at Freshfields.... more

• Freshfields follows Linklaters with £66,000 rate for newly-qualified lawyers

  May 07 2008 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has unveiled salary increases broadly in line with those by magic circle rival Linklaters. Newly-qualified lawyer will now earn £66,000,... more

• Bird & Bird hikes newly qualified pay 9% to £60k

  May 02 2008 Newly-qualified solicitors at the top 30 UK firm will see their salaries rise from £55,000 to £60,000 – an increase of 9%. The firm’s second-year trainees also benefit... more

• Herbert Smith announces associate pay freeze

  May 02 2008 Herbert Smith has confirmed that it will not be increasing associate salaries for the next financial year. Salary bands will remain the same as last year, with... more

• Linklaters Hikes Starting Pay in London to £66K

  Apr 30 2008 New solicitors starting with the magic circle firm will now earn £66,600, up from £64,000 in 2007. Second-year-qualified lawyers see a similar rise, moving from... more

• Large law firms hire from select schools

  Apr 23 2008 Columbia Law School in New York City and Northwestern Law School in Chicago are the most frequently recruited schools by the nation’s largest law firms, which offer... more

• Lean time for law associates in the US

  Apr 19 2008 This time last year, salaried lawyers at many of America's largest firms had just scored a pay bump, as business was blazing and firms were scrambling to keep talent.... more

• Indian law firms fight attrition with fatter paychecks

  Mar 23 2008 These may still be early days for foreign law firms to set foot in India, but they sure are shaking up the legal fraternity here. Top foreign law firms like Clifford... more

• UK in-housers are world's best paid

  Mar 04 2008 The UK's in-house lawyers are the best paid in the world, according to a new survey of in-house salaries. UK general counsel with legal teams of more than 30 lawyers... more

• Paul Hastings raises first-year pay to $160,000

  Feb 07 2008 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker has upped the ante. The firm told its Atlanta associates that it will raise compensation considerably above current market rates.... more

• UK law firms match investment banks on trainee pay

  Feb 06 2008 Law firm trainees can now pocket equal amounts to their graduate counterparts at investment banks, according to new research – with both camps taking home over £10,000... more

• D.C. Associate Bonuses 'Fairly Healthy' This Year

  Feb 03 2008 It's associate bonus season for many Washington, D.C., law firms, and the numbers are trickling in. At a few firms, D.C. associates may be getting an extra check that... more

• Who’s Cuddly Now? Law Firms

  Jan 28 2008 In the last two decades, as working schedules became flexible, and even accounting firms, of all places, embraced the mantra of work-life balance (at least on paper),... more

• Allen & Overy Boosts Work-Life Credentials With Vacation 'Trading' Initiative

  Jan 18 2008 Allen & Overy lawyers are now able to buy and sell vacation days, under the latest flexible working scheme introduced at the Magic Circle law firm. Lawyers and staff... more

• Top Indian corporate law firms increase salaries for fresh graduates

  Jan 16 2008 New Delhi: Taking cue from their foreign counterparts, top corporate law firms in the country have, this recruitment season, begun offering fresh law graduates 30-50%... more

• U.S. Chief Justice Again Calls for a Pay Raise, Though With a Gentler Tone

  Jan 01 2008 Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Monday renewed his call for a pay increase for federal judges. A measure now moving through Congress with bipartisan support is... more

• US Large-Firm Associate Salaries Close In on $200K

  Dec 27 2007 A first-year salary of $200,000? Not quite yet, but with word that Williams & Connolly is raising pay for starting associates to $180,000 a year, the magic $200K mark... more

• Law firms wait for competitors before setting new salary scale

  Dec 17 2007 Starting salaries for first-year law associates shot to an all-time high in the Pittsburgh market in 2007 as Pepper Hamilton LLC offered $145,000. Now most firms,... more

• Latham Ramps Up Parental Benefits; Will Other Firms Follow?

  Dec 14 2007 Latham & Watkins announced a new parental leave policy for associates this week that significantly ups the amount of time biological and adoptive parents can take... more

• Starting salaries for London City lawyers soar to £60,000

  Nov 19 2007 Starting salaries for City lawyers have broken the £60,000 mark for the first time as demand for new talent soars, an analysis by a leading legal recruitment firm has... more

• Law Firms Racing To Boast Best Pay for Associates

  Nov 02 2007 The race is on to see which of the city's top law firms will boast the best-paid associate. As is common when it comes to law firm pay, the going is neck and neck.... more

• Cravath, Swaine & Moore Is Giving Its Associates Two Year-End Bonuses

  Nov 01 2007 Cravath, Swaine & Moore has raised the salary bar for law firm associates in Manhattan. The firm has announced that it will award a special one-time bonus for... more

• Midsize Law Firms Go for Big Changes

  Oct 23 2007 Even as the number of large firms continues to multiply and as rumblings grow louder of yet another first-year associate salary raise among the profession's giants,... more