As an OMM attorney in DC, I look at this as mere spin. O'Melveny is trying to make its DC associates feel better about the 15K gap between first years (and much more as you go up the ladders) in the DC and NY offices by claiming we "set the market". Nice phrase, but it won't buy me a house. Skadden, with 100 more lawyers in DC than OMM, set the market in DC; we merely provided a convenient out for other firms looking to justify increasingly divergent pay scales. And look, it worked! Now Hogan associates can thank us for their 10K raise. Sure they might have gotten more if we hadn't low-balled -- I mean established -- the going rate, but it's better than nothing, right?

I don't mind that we only got a 10K raise. But I wish my firm, among others, would be honest and admit they're paying us the very least they think they can get away with. Instead, they undercut the market, for us and everyone else in DC, and act like it's a grand act. An act, yes. But hardly grand.

look at Cleary, Fried Frank and Cadwalader too!!!

Also look at Weil Gotshal.

Willkie pays 160 in DC also, see their memo http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/01/skaddenfreude_and_heres_willki.php#more

The New York firms pretty much pay 160K to their DC associates (I am sure there will be exceptions, but the general rule prevails).

Dewey too!

I think there are now 15 or 16 firms with DC offices paying starting salaries of 160. And yes, they are mostly "NY firms" with DC offices. But that's an accident of geography - why doesn't Skadden DC "count" as part of the market when they have significantly more lawyers in their DC Office than OMM does? And if the firm's home location is determinative, why doesn't OMM just say to its NY associates "sorry, but we're an LA firm. You get $145, just like we pay in LA"? Why does it make sense that NY firms "have" to pay the same salary across the board, but LA and DC firms don't?

Rather than bravado-filled press releases, some answers might be helpful. Or at least appreciated.

Brash - you are exactly right. No matter how it gets spun, it doesn't make sense. If you're Latham or Gibson, but hopefully Latham ;-), why not announce 160k across the board, and make the Big 3, the Big 1 (or 2 if both go to 160k)?

Especially at Latham, where the SV office has the highest avg. billable hours last year, with the OC second. How could they justify bumping NY, but not CA? It will be a slap in the face to all their CA associates. Thanks for busting your butts guys and girls, here's 145k, don't worry about your law school class mates at CA offices of NY firms and what they're making, and don't worry about what NY L&W associates are making. Ummm . . . thanks again.

On the bright side, supposedly bonuses will be up. Umm . . . yay?!

But Cleary, Fried Frank and all the others paying 160 are "NY firms". See how much easier it is to pay us differently just by adding those two words? Magically, they disappear from the DC Market.

But maybe law suits can still see them somehow - and will choose them over OMM and Hogan. If so, then OMM is right, and the market really is set ... for second-tier talent.

Cleary has a very sizeable DC office. Fried Frank, too.

this is a complete travesty...i hope other dc firms see this as an opportunity to leap ahead OMM as a top firm in the DC market...shearman, weil, dewey, willkie, skadden, cleary, fried frank, and cadwalader have all moved up to "ny pay" in dc...its not like the other firms in dc dont practice the same kind of law as these firms.

so where the f*&$ is paul hastings in all of this?

Hunton, anybody? Hunton? I knew I shouldn't have gone with a Richmond firm!

ok my post just got deleted....where is paul hastings on all of this?

V&E where are you?? It's me $160K base.

David,

What does OMM look like up the scale? My understanding is that Hogan bumped across the board, and the numbers for the senior associates are a 25K bump. Class of 2000 was at 215K, now they are at 240K. I got this info from the Greedy Associates Board at infirmation.com, but the poster seemed legit.

If Hogan really bumped across the board, the other DC firms are going to have to follow suit.

Sidley...Sidley... anyone? Are they the last of the V20?

Wow, yet another pathetic announcement.
As for Latham topping this out, don't rule it out yet, but don't get too excited. From what I can tell, here is Latham's story:
Bonuses will be announced tomorrow.
Bonuses are rumored (on good sources) to be the kind that "make people happy."
The firm's raises will not be announced tomorrow.
Latham moves SLOW with this kind of thing. And they are most often CHEAP. I'm not holding my breath. I think Latham is about ready to announce that it is not a big player, but a second tier firm. Great.

In earlier comments Sidley was reported as going to 160 in Chicago. I know the memo isn't out yet, but can anyone confirm?

Latham has to go 160 in all offices. Several of its major markets will be 160 and it can't be "one firm" if half the offices are paid second class salaries.

that earlier sidley rumor could hardly have been more unsubstantiated. i would love to believe it, but there is no reason to get your hopes up yet.

I am an associate at the DC office of a non-NY firm. I recently helped convince a particularly promising summer associate to choose our offer over that of the DC office of a NY firm against which we compete for everything -- new lawyers, work, etc. If I were her, and if my firm does not match the NY rates, I think she's going to be pretty angry she lost $15k before she even started.

htown--

V&E will not even get close to 160K. Look at its current salary structure--they pay first years $140K to suck them in, but from there on up there's very heavy salary compression. The reality is that V&E doesn't and can't compete against the New York majors. A fine firm? Yes. A Sullivan & Cromwell? Never.

The story being lost in this is the New York firms in the smaller markets such as Houston. A fourth year at V&E makes $160K base. A fifth year at Weil in houston makes $210K. That's a $50K difference.

Any word of Hughes Hubbard following suit (even if only for NYC)?

Wow, capitalism comes to the legal market again! Just like we all learned in Antitrust Law, price-fixing is really, really hard to do, because eventually people defect. It looks like the informal collusion of the past decade has finally cracked under market pressures, and firms will be competing on price in the talent market again.

I don't see how this stops at DC and New York either. Confident management teams will stake out aggressive positions, seeking to garner a larger share of the talent, while those who are less sure about their growth prospects will hide behind false claims of pricing power, like OMM has done.

Paging Debevoise and Cravath, paging Debevoise and Cravath...helloooo, anyone there???

Anyone know what time the Proskauer memo went out officially? I was hoping for a swift response from my firm.

no comments on PH?

In response to below comments, Sidley is always slow and never is a market leader.

Anyone heard anything about Baker & McKenzie or Stroock?

Come on Cravath, go to 170! You're bigger and badder than the Ma and Pa shops that are at 160 now!

Stroock told its LA associates today that there would be increases for each year up to the fifth year, with sixth year and above to be determined. The first-year salary will be $150,000, which puts Stroock ahead of O'Melveny in LA.

Supposedly, Stroock NY will match at $160,000 and up on Monday.

Cravath and Wachtell still haven't announced...

At a unrelated meeting of all mid-level/senior associates in the firm, I am informed that A&P.'s managing partner indicated he was aware of the raises, but commented that "throwing money at associates" won't solve any problems -- suggesting they will resist moving salaries.

Brash:

Oh, Lord, if you really think it's worth $15k ($9k after taxes) to put up with Skadden rather than OMM, you deserve everything that that $9k buys you. Just call them up and send in a resume, they'll be happy to avoid paying the headhunter $50k for more cannon fodder.

Another thing that bothers me with the whole COL excuse is that COL in the Bay Area is higher than in NY.

Don't believe me, check out the fed's locality pay tables at http://www.opm.gov/oca/06tables/html/ny.asp and http://www.opm.gov/oca/06tables/html/sf.asp.

Sure, a big mac costs more in NY than SF, but look at condo prices. $600 median condo price in SF!

Any word from Covington?

Yeah, Covington information would be much appreciated...

interesting that K & S matched in NYC, I assume that means they will raise in DC to $145K ...

seems to be the first firm with a HQ outside of the typical (NYC, DC, Chicago, California, Texas) to make the move.

wachtell info anyone?

Is Thacher Proffitt going to maintain a market rate? Any ideas?

Goddamn you people are retarded. You are lawyers? Can you read? The same goddamn information is posted about the same goddamn firms and still there is retarded shit about "WHERE IS PROSKAUER?" You fucking sound like my grandma. And plus, you stupid ass bitches, if you are crying about the difference between 145K and 160K YOU DESERVE TO BURN IN HELL.

GZA: Did your frustration justify using multiple expletives? Just because we are posting anyonymously doesn't mean that you need to subject the rest of us to your vile tirade.

GZA, your grandma works at Proskauer?

Paul Hastings anyone?

Anyone know about Cahill, Gordon Reindel?

10:25,

I agree that if Latham is a "one firm, firm" that it cannot pay different salaries legitimately. That doesn't mean they wiill refrain from doing it though. Friend says bonuses out today - we'll see what happens.

I'm not dumb enough to go to Skadden myself, but I wonder about our future recruits? Money does talk when you're $130K in debt and little other than starting salary appears to distinguish between top-tier firms. We'll see.

As for the whole "one firm" policy, OMM says the same. There are no "satellite" offices here, only satellite pay.

When I applied for jobs, pay was $125K across the board and DC/LA/NY were peers. Now it looks like only NY is a first tier market and DC is second tier. This is certainly depressing, considering it is harder to get a job in DC than New York. Lower pay in DC lowers morale and lowers prestige.

Chances are good for Thacher Proffitt

It's actually harder to get an offer from OMM DC than OMM NY...

I've heard OMM DC is the only office which requires within firm transfers to reinterview...

Shame OMM doesn't just pay cross the board 160...

NamelessDC:

Your summer associate did not "lose" anything - she gained $10K! She accepted OMM's job expecting 135K, now she is getting 145K. Why can't people see that?!

People say Wachtell gives out 100% bonuses, but that's ok, because they don't affect the market. Well, then why do STB and the few top tier NY firms have to affect the market?

And why should the V100 NY firms follow? They would be very stupid to do so. I mean, come on - are Kaye Schoeler and Chadbourne & Parke going to lose all their associates and law students to Simpson Thacher and Davis Polk if the former two do not match the latter?! Let'e be reasonable.

To 10:49 -

You're right, the summer gained 10K in real terms but lost $15K in opportunity cost, i.e. the income she would have received at another firm. By your logic, if Latham raised first years to $180 and OMM gave them $135, the summer who chooses OMM over Latham has lost nothing. That's obviously not true.

As to why a "few top tier firms" effect the DC market, it may be because they do much the same work as OMM, in some cases have as many if not more associates in DC as OMM, and many of the same recruits as OMM. Wachtel is an obvious outlier because their entire comensation structure is unique. Skadden is not an outlier.

Paul Hastings will match...they are strongly committed to matching and not leading.

10:49 - The trouble is that when she was deciding the firms were, on paper at least, evenly matched. The client we don't get they do; the client we get they don't. The work is the same, but now compensation the sattelite of the NY firm is way ahead. We might have gotten her, but we won't get the next one.

to 10:49 -- Also, I know a lot of people who accepted jobs with firms expecting that salaries would be higher than they were at the time of the offer. They also expected firms to keep pace they way they always have -- thus if a firm falls behind within that time between acceptance and coming to work, they have lost something that they expected .. a job at a firm that isn't going to fall behind market.