Skaddenfreude: Bryan Caves In
Being on the LIST OF SHAME gets more shameful by the day, as one law firm after another drops off of it.
The latest to leave: Bryan Cave. From a source at the firm:
The professional development people had a meeting with the associates this morning. New York associates will be getting the $15k raise [to $160K] across the board. DC and LA first years are going to $145K. Details to come in a memo to be distributed later today.
Thank God it's Friday -- the most popular day for pay raise news. Will more announcements arrive later today? Stay tuned.
Update: Thanks, 12:42!
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of associate pay raises (scroll down)
(9) Comments
Squire Sanders, your former merger partner has shown itself to be a true BigLaw competitor. Will you???
A 15K raise "across the board" would have Bryan Cave below market from 3rd year on. Such a move would help recruiting ("Yes, little 2L, we pay an entry salary of $160,000, just like everyone else), but would *shamefully* compress mid-level and senior associate compensation.
Shouldn't this post be titled, "Bryan Caves In"?
Any recon on Bryan Cave in STL (or Squire in Cleveland, for that matter)?
Rumor is Bryan STL is not raising because it "leads the market" in that town. Hopefully for those prisoners, er...associates, the rumor is false.
why would Bryan Cave raise in St. Louis if they didnt have to?
Jones Day raised in Cleveland. Unlike Jones Day, which is now a DC firm, Bryan Cave's core strength still is in Saint Louis and not much elsewhere.
The St. Louis office doesn't need to raise - the pay is significantly higher than the rest of town, and the cost of living in STL is so low that the purchasing power of their "lower" salary is much stronger.
I'm late to the game with this comment, but my sources at the Cave tell me that salaries were raised across the board in NYC, but not necessarily by the same amount as other NYC firms. 1st and 2nd (and probably 3rd) years definitely are getting market base salaries now, but senior associates are not getting market base salaries or bonuses.
Also, the salary bump is effective March 1, so NYC Cave associates will miss out on those first two months of retroactive salary all their friends received.