More NY firms match pay rises

A broad spread of top US firms have jumped on the New York bandwagon to raise starting lawyer salaries to the newly-established benchmark of $160,000 (£81,000).Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy have become the latest to follow suit, while Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is also understood to have matched the rate.

January 25, 2007 at 05:58 AM

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A broad spread of top US firms have jumped on the New York bandwagon to raise starting lawyer salaries to the newly-established benchmark of $160,000 (£81,000).

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy have become the latest to follow suit, while Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is also understood to have matched the rate.

The majority of the firms are expected to match the rate in London.

The rises come after Manhattan outfit Simpson Thacher & Bartlett kicked off a round of salary increases by announcing its newly-qualified salary would reach $160,000 earlier this week (22 January).

A number of rival firms – including Sullivan & Cromwell, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison – then announced they were matching the rate on Tuesday (23 January).

The rates differ among more senior lawyers. Simpson Thacher senior associates will now pocket a standard rate of $290,000 (£146,000), while Paul Weiss and Sullivan will fork out $310,000 (£157,000) for lawyers at the upper end.

It is understood that Cleary and Cadwalader will pay senior associates $280,000 (£141,000).