Associate Compensation
 August 8, 2005

For benchmarking purposes, a lot of firms ask us what associate compensation is for the East and West Coasts – sort of a test of how high the market goes. So here is our best intelligence on the New York / California associate salary levels.

California Firms

Firm	Base Salary	Bonus	Hours
Cooley Godward	1st year $125,000 4th year $150,000 7th year $205,000	Discretionary	1900
Fenwick & West	1st year $125,000 4th year $160,000 7th year $195,000	Discretionary + equity pool	1800/1950 (Two tiered system)
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $205,000	Discretionary	None
Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $205,000	Up to $36,000 Up to $60,000 Up to $60,000	1950
Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe	1st year $125,000 4th year $150,000 7th year $185,000	Up to $49,375 Up to $89,500 Up to $103,000	1900
Latham & Watkins	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $205,000	Discretionary	1900
Morrison & Foerster	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $205,000	Up to $12,000 Up to $22,000 Up to $22,000	1950
O’Melveny & Myers	1st year $125,000 4th year $150,000 7th year $195,000	Discretionary	1950
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $205,000	Up to $50,000 Up to $65,000 Up to $75,000	1950
Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $205,000	$5,000 to $40,000	None
Pillsbury Winthrop	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $195,000	$7,500 to $22,500 $12,500 to $37,500 $15,000 to $45,000	1950

New York Firms

Davis Polk & Wardwell	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $215,000	$17,500 $24,000 $40,000	None
Shearman & Sterling	1st year $125,000 4th year $170,000 7th year $220,000	$17,500 $25,000 $35,000	None
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	1st year $125,000 4th year $170,000 7th year $220,000	$17,500 $24,000 $40,000	None
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom	1st year $140,000 4th year $185,000 7th year $220,000	$2,500 $4,000 $10,000	None
Sullivan & Cromwell	1st year $125,000 4th year $170,000 7th year $220,000	$17,500 $24,000 $40,000	None
Weil Gotshal & Manges	1st year $125,000 4th year $165,000 7th year $215,000	$15,000 Up to $40,000 Up to $40,000	None