Posted on February 8, 2008 by Tami Cowden

Salaries, perks, and bad times

 

In How to Choose a Firm (The Magic Number) Wild, Wild Law has posted a comparison of hourly pay at local law firms, using a formula based on the published starting associate salaries and minimum billing expectation. It’s an interesting comparison, showing a range of $37  to $71 per hour. 

Without info about bonuses, the dollar amount isn’t really accurate.  But the range of 1800 to 2160 expected billable hours probably gives a clue about lifestyles at the various firms.  Those who focus primarily on dollars and perks need to look at the fine print, as noted in Law Firm Perks Are Nice, but What's the Catch?

Wild, Wild’s comparison shows the increasing number of local firms that have pushed their starting salaries closer to the mid six figures resulting from salary wars from the national’s biggest firms last year.   It makes me wonder - have any local firms adopted another trend – in house career counseling?

As Law.com reports in Sometimes Law Firm's Counselors Advise Getting Out, a few firms have placed a career counselor on staff.   The idea behind this is to help with associates with career development, such as building their practice or finding their niche. However, as the headline indicates, sometimes the advice helps the associate just get out of an unhappy situation.

Career advice may be a good idea, especially for firms with unnaturally bloated salaries. For example, the number two firm on Wild, Wild’s list has frozen the salaries of its staff, as Wild, Wild reported in Support staff feeling the (economic) burn).

 Too many headlines from the past weeks have announced the effects on law firms of the slow down in the economy. Here’s a small sampling:

Associate layoffs start in the US

Thacher Proffitt Warns of Associate Layoffs

Greenberg Traurig's CEO Announces Plan to Freeze Some Salaries

Of course, the warning came long ago –  With Dip in Economy, Are Associate Layoffs on the Horizon?

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