Wake Up Call: Talent War Pushes Up Associate Billing Rates

In today’s column, the war for young legal talent has pushed up firms’ compensation and billing rates for associates; it has also spurred elite litigation boutiques to match or beat Milbank’s salary scale; the U.K.’s legal profession regulator dropped an investigation into a former Freshfields partner.

• Leading off, as law firms raised compensation for associates in the battle for talent in 2021, their billing rates for associates have risen faster than rates for partners, new data show. The national average rate billed by partners last year rose 1.8% to $728 per hour, while associates rates rose 3.9% to $535, this ...