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Are Associate Salaries Too High?
A few months ago, we ran an article about the recent increases in associate salaries. Starting salaries in the larger New York firms jumped to $145,000 or more and it didn’t take long for law firms in the rest of the country to follow suit. Not everyone matched the salaries of the big New York firms, but, in relative terms, salaries went up in all regions of the country.
A recent article on the law.com BLOG Network posed the question that associate salaries may have reached the point where they are too high. They asked readers to vote on whether associate salaries are justified. Not surprisingly, given that most of the readers are lawyers, 72 percent felt the high salaries are justified. The consensus seems to be that
- The salaries are driven by market forces.
- The only way to attract top talent is to offer top salaries.
- The salaries are necessary to encourage associates to work as hard as they do.
Another point of view is that lawyers, at least in New York, aren’t paid any higher than those in comparable professions, e.g., investment bankers, stock brokers and other financial professionals. They ask why lawyers should be singled out.
For a completely different take, check out this article on the Engineering Salary Web site. If you had any doubts that you might not be worth what you’re earning, this article should remove them. |
