Lawyer Pay
Morris Manning Cuts Associate Pay Up to 15%, Cites ‘Readjustment’ of Salary Market
Posted Jul 28, 2009 5:45 AM CST
By Molly McDonough
Atlanta's Morris, Manning & Martin is the latest firm to cut associate pay in response to the country's economic downturn.
Starting Aug. 1, the firm's pay for associates in its real estate, lending and tax groups will drop by 15 percent. Pay for other associates will drop by 10 percent, according to the Fulton County Daily Report.
The firm's managing partner, Robert E. Saudek, told the publication that a decline in legal work and a readjustment of the associate salary market prompted the cuts.
Saudek said the market salary for associates is resetting at lower rates. While associate starting salaries at increased 45 percent between 2005 and 2008, they are now declining by about 10 percent. "We feel we need to be with the market, but not above it," he is quoted saying.
He also told the Daily Report that clients aren't generating as much legal work for Morris Manning, especially in the real estate and corporate areas. "Billable rates are receiving a lot of pressure, and billable hours are not as high as in prior years," he says.
Morris Manning opted for salary cuts rather than layoffs.
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Comments
tim
Jul 28, 2009 8:47 AM CST
Any client who pays more than $350 an hour for an attorney is just wasting their money.
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Cynic
Jul 28, 2009 12:50 PM CST
The ABA should have one of the “related story” links direct the audience to the recent article concerning U Iowa Law’s proposed 24.5% in-state tuition increase. Salaries go down; tuition (and corresponding interest rates) go up. The legal profession for new attorneys resembles nothing so much as a mixture of Kafka’s parable “Before the Law” and Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.”
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B. McLeod
Jul 29, 2009 4:27 PM CST
A cut “up to 15%” is better than a cut “down to 15%”.
They should be grinning about the chickens they still have, not bemoaning the chickens they have lost.
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