As Economy Stalls, So Do Salaries ... But Not Associate Hours

Forget about associate pay raises. In this economy, the attorney infantry at BigLaw firms should be bracing for a potential increase on a different front: their expected billable hours.

Right now, Williams & Connolly remains the highest-paying Washington, D.C., law firm, as far as first-year associates are concerning, with a breath-taking $180,000 starting salary, reports the Legal Times in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

But few, if any, competing law firms appear to be following suit on the pay raise, the legal publication reports. Instead, the troubled economic times are likely to result in an expectation, whether formal or informal, that associates will work more hours, the legal publication predicts.

Meanwhile, for much the same reasons, young attorneys may have to look harder to find available work: "The new paradox for associates is that they’re going to be under increasing pressure to bill more at a time when work is far more scarce," the article states.