Lawyer Pay
Associates at Top KC Firms Top $100K
Posted Feb 5, 2008 7:51 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Top Kansas City law firms are raising salaries for new associates by as much as 10 percent this year, boosting pay to more than $100,000 a year.
The Kansas City Star reports that the firms are paying more as they compete for associates.
New associates at Bryan Cave will earn $110,000 beginning June 1, a salary that is 5 percent higher than last year, the newspaper says. At Shook Hardy & Bacon, first years are getting a 10 percent pay boost to $105,000. Stinson Morrison Hecker gave associates a 17 percent raise last year, putting salaries at $105,000.
“The competition for the best people is pretty intense,” managing partner Robert Thompson of Bryan Cave told the newspaper. “Younger people are increasingly mobile and open to new cities, so competition is not just across Kansas City, but with firms across the country.”
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Comments
Mark Pitchford
Feb 8, 2008 8:51 AM CST
Those salaries look pretty nice until you realize that 2000 billed hours is about 3 normal jobs worth of work.
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Brandon
Feb 8, 2008 10:47 AM CST
Yeah, I’d rather make $70,000 at a firm that only requires 1800 billables. It’s not always about making big money. It’s more important to me to have a life outside of the office.
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Kate
Feb 12, 2008 11:19 PM CST
I am willing to bet that comment writers 1 and 2 could not land a job at a large firm although they tried, and are now trying to make themselves feel better about it by claiming they wouldn’t have liked the work anyway as it would have been too imposing on their elaborate and complex lifestyles watching 3 hours of tv every night. Well, good luck with that, and btw the bad news is (if you didn’t know it already): mid-sized firms often have HIGHER stated minimum hours requirements than even some biglaw firms.
Good luck also with hoping that you can be as successful and upwardly mobile at 1900 hours as someone who puts in more time to grow and develop a career. The truth about the legal profession is that unless you put the time in and figure out ways to make your life work - whether at biglaw, at a small firm, or at the d.a.‘s office, or your career is going nowhere. I really have a lot of disdain for people who choose this profession because of prestige or money, and than try to look for ways to do as little as possible to contribute. It’s people like that who focus their energies on MINIMUM expectations, while at the same time expecting 6-figure bonuses. People like that are a disgrace to the profession. You want a “normal” job - go ahead and do your weekly 40 at a 7-11. You’ll get plenty of work-life balance there. I like being a lawyer, and I’ll stick to giving it my best effort. That 6-figure job that you didn’t want anyway - well, I’ve got it, and you know what? I work hard and I love it; the salary is just icing on the cake.
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