Legal News

Bizarro World at Firms: Associates Making Partner Money?

By Ashby Jones

Some good news for the beleagured law-firm associate: Some of you might actually be making more than the partners you toil for. How’s that? According to a story in this week’s Legal Times, the most recent round of associate pay hikes means senior associates are inching their way to junior partner pay rates — and in some instances, eclipsing them.

An example of this new bizarro world: At Arent Fox, according to the story, senior associates can earn as much as $380,000 in base salary and bonuses. First-year nonequity partners start off with a pay rate of $310,000, and subtract $20,000 to cover their own benefits. Their total: $290,000.

“It doesn’t bother us, and we’ve never heard a complaint,” said firm chairman Mark Fleischaker. Last year, the firm added some $77,000 to help shore up salaries for partners at the low end of the pay scale. New total: $367,000 (still not as much as those large-livin’ senior associates.)

The Legal Times story gives good treatment to the hows and why. But Law Blog readers, we’d love to hear from you. What’s going on here? Are junior partners getting the shaft or are senior associates just woefully overpaid? (Or both?)

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 30, 2008 (boomark / email).