aNoNo
01-22-2002, 08:41 AM
Some Law Firms Cut Salaries of Associates;
Cutting Back
In a rare move, several law firms are rolling back starting salaries for their first-year associates.
Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich LLP recently
announced a $10,000 pay cut for its 59 first-year associates. These attorneys, who earned $135,000 a year when they joined last fall, will receive their reduced salaries until June. The Palo Alto, Calif., law
firm will re-evaluate their pay in the meantime. "I think the people earning $135,000 were a little ahead of the market" anyway, says Richard Yankwich, who heads the firm's recruiting committee.
Pillsbury Winthrop LLP in San Francisco also recently cut salaries for its 85 first-year associates to $125,000 from $135,000. Marina Park, the managing partner, says their pay will stay at this level indefinitely. To make up for the decrease, the firm will raise the first level of its hours-based bonuses to
$10,000 from $5,000, she adds.
Venture Law Group sliced base pay even more this month. The Menlo Park, Calif., firm reduced first-year associates' salaries to $100,000 from $125,000. In exchange, the attorneys were given a bigger stake in the firm's profit-sharing program.
This spring's crop of law-school graduates will face similar cuts. The Affiliates, a legal-staffing company in Menlo Park, Calif., recently studied thousands of job orders and concluded that first-year associates of law firms with more than 75 attorneys will earn starting salaries between $89,000 and $119,250 in 2002. That's a 3.7% drop from 2001.
However, the Affiliates study forecast that small law firms (employing up to 10 attorneys) will offer first-year associates a 3% higher starting salary, ranging from $38,500 to $56,500.
Cutting Back
In a rare move, several law firms are rolling back starting salaries for their first-year associates.
Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich LLP recently
announced a $10,000 pay cut for its 59 first-year associates. These attorneys, who earned $135,000 a year when they joined last fall, will receive their reduced salaries until June. The Palo Alto, Calif., law
firm will re-evaluate their pay in the meantime. "I think the people earning $135,000 were a little ahead of the market" anyway, says Richard Yankwich, who heads the firm's recruiting committee.
Pillsbury Winthrop LLP in San Francisco also recently cut salaries for its 85 first-year associates to $125,000 from $135,000. Marina Park, the managing partner, says their pay will stay at this level indefinitely. To make up for the decrease, the firm will raise the first level of its hours-based bonuses to
$10,000 from $5,000, she adds.
Venture Law Group sliced base pay even more this month. The Menlo Park, Calif., firm reduced first-year associates' salaries to $100,000 from $125,000. In exchange, the attorneys were given a bigger stake in the firm's profit-sharing program.
This spring's crop of law-school graduates will face similar cuts. The Affiliates, a legal-staffing company in Menlo Park, Calif., recently studied thousands of job orders and concluded that first-year associates of law firms with more than 75 attorneys will earn starting salaries between $89,000 and $119,250 in 2002. That's a 3.7% drop from 2001.
However, the Affiliates study forecast that small law firms (employing up to 10 attorneys) will offer first-year associates a 3% higher starting salary, ranging from $38,500 to $56,500.