A New York jury has awarded $6.2 million to an attorney who sued her law firm for allegedly firing her after she complained that she was paid less than male attorneys who ranked lower than her.
Despite reports of $225,000 starting salaries for BigLaw associates, most law firms are paying less, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association for Law Placement.
A number of attorneys representing clients who cannot afford legal representation in federal cases are set to have their pay halted for more than two months because of budget shortfalls in the congressional spending bill passed this year, court officials say, alarming lawyers and judges.
Litigation boutique law firm Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors will be raising salaries for first-year associates to $300,000 beginning Sept. 1, an increase of $50,000.
Litigation boutique law firm Wilkinson Stekloff will pay special bonuses to associates ranging from $25,000 to $60,000, the firm recently told employees in a memo.
Dechert has sued a former senior project attorney for more than $90,000, the money that the law firm said it is still owed after a $132,250 salary overpayment.
Hogan Lovells and Perkins Coie have decided to pay special bonuses at the market rate of $6,000 to $25,000 after associates were initially told that they wouldn’t receive the money as a matter of course.
Above the Law’s bonus tracker continues to expand, as an increasing number of boutique law firms announce associate bonuses that match or surpass market rates set by Milbank. But some BigLaw firms are not falling in line with the standard special bonuses.
“Multiple associates” at Boies Schiller Flexner are receiving bonuses of $1 million or more this year, thanks to a formula based on law firm contributions and revenue generation, according to an internal memo obtained by several publications.
Updated: By Thursday morning, more than 30 law firms had matched Milbank’s year-end bonuses and announced special bonuses on par with Milbank’s summer bonuses, according to bonus announcements obtained by Above the Law.
