Ropes & Gray, White & Case and Weil Gotshal & Manges are increasing salaries to match the Big Law pay scale that ranges from $225,000 for first years to $435,000 for most senior associates.
Over a dozen of the nation’s top law firms have now announced matches to the scale set by Milbank and Cravath Swaine & Moore.
Weil’s new salary scale will go into effect on Jan. 1, the firm said in a Monday email viewed by Bloomberg Law. The New York firm also announced its bonus scale, ranging from $15,000 to $115,000 for the most senior associates. The scale matches previous year’s bonus scale.
White & Case also said Monday that it will match the new pay scale as well as bonus amounts for associates in good standing.
Ropes & Gray also said it will match the new pay scale, according to a memo viewed by Bloomberg Law. It is also paying out bonuses for associates in good standing that have met its 1,900 creditable hour mark. The firm is also handing out bonuses for $130,000 for the class of 2015.
Milbank, citing “high levels of activity,” kicked off the surprise salary hikes in a Nov. 7 firm memo, bumping up associate salaries by $10,000 across the board. Cravath matched Milbank’s increase for junior lawyers but boosted salaries by $20,000 for senior associates on Nov. 28.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison on Nov. 29 said it would pay its eighth-year associates $435,000.
Milbank said on Tuesday that it was matching the salary bumps by Cravath and Paul Weiss for its midlevel and senior associates in an email viewed by Bloomberg Law.
(Updates with Milbank's match in eighth paragraph.)
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