Troutman Sanders has announced that it is raising associate pay for all offices, matching Atlanta's new $165,000 top-of-the-market starting salary.

While the firm declined to share specifics, the move makes Troutman the latest Atlanta-based firm to raise associate pay in response to the wave of pay raises originating in New York at the beginning of June.

“To provide the highest level of client service, Troutman Sanders must continue to attract, retain and develop top talent. As a result, we have increased the starting salaries for first year associates across our offices and will make appropriate increases to existing associates' compensation,” the firm said in a statement to the Daily Report.

The raises will take effect Sept. 1. Troutman's managing partner, Stephen Lewis, declined a request for more detail on what the firm's new associate pay scale will be.

According to Above the Law, Troutman is matching the new starting salaries of $165,000 in Atlanta and $190,000 in New York, Washington, Chicago and California, while existing associates will receive individual raises after meeting with members of the firm's associate review committee.

Troutman signaled that the pay raises will not come at client expense. “The legal market continues to evolve, and Troutman Sanders continues to use more fixed fees, blended rates and other alternative fee arrangements. We are confident that changes to our associate compensation structure will enhance our ability to deliver great value to our clients,” the firm's statement said.

Associate pay increases hit the Atlanta legal market when the city's largest firms, King & Spalding and Alston & Bird, matched the new national pay scale at the end of June, quickly followed by Eversheds Sutherland.

Those firms increased starting pay by $10,000 for all their offices—to $165,000 in Atlanta and Charlotte and to $190,000 in their Washington, New York, California, Texas and Chicago offices—with commensurate pay increases for more senior associate classes.

Last week Morris, Manning & Martin and Bondurant Mixson & Elmore also announced pay raises matching the new $165,000 starting salary for Atlanta.

The higher pay scale adopted in Atlanta by King & Spalding, Alston & Bird and Eversheds Sutherland ranges from $165,000 for first years to $265,000 for eighth years. The New York pay scale ranges from starting pay of $190,000 to $340,000 for eighth years.

Morris Manning raised pay by $10,000 across the board for its first- through eighth-year associates, effective Aug. 1, and “will make further adjustments at year-end to remain competitive,” the firm's managing partner, Louise Wells, told the Daily Report last week.

“We are doing this so we can continue to attract top talent,” Wells said. “Without top talent, we can't be a top law firm.”

Bondurant also will raise associate pay across the board, with the details still being finalized. The raises will go into effect Sept. 1.

Other national firms with Atlanta offices, including Jones Day, Paul Hastings and DLA Piper, also matched the pay increases. But plenty of large firms with a local office, Atlanta-based and otherwise, are still in wait-and-see mode.

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