Associate Salaries Holding Firm - October 7, 2008

While there has been a lot of speculation that some Washington firms would push associate salaries over the $200,000 mark, apparently the current economic crisis has scuttled any such thoughts as firms attempt to be more conservative in their hiring. However, some firms are expressing more interest in abandoning the associate lockstep system in favor of performance based compensation. Several firms continue to talk about different salary tracks for different billable hour levels and a number of firms are reconsidering differing salaries for new associates based on their law school and class rank. A similar concept was adopted by a number of firms in the 1980’s but quickly abandoned over fears that they were establishing a caste system within their associate ranks.