Am Law 100 Firm Offers Cravath-Scale Salaries — But Only To Its Junior Associates

// Biglaw firms across the Am Law 200 have announced associate salary increases, some across the board, and some only for certain class years. Back in mid-December, an Am Law 100 firm announced lockstep Cravath raises — but only for its most junior associates, maintaining a black-box compensation system of sorts for its midlevel and senior associates.

The firm in question is Lowenstein Sandler, which brought in $451,902,000 gross revenue in 2022, putting it at No. 99 in the most recent Am Law 100 ranking. According to a memo viewed by Above the Law, eligible associates at the firm in the classes of 2023 through 2021 will receive raises in line with the Cravath scale:

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• Class of 2023: $225,000
• Class of 2022: $230,000
• Class of 2021: $260,000

All midlevel and senior associates at the firm will receive “performance and market-driven” salaries that reward “exceptional performance” and “challeng[e] each individual to maintain a level of client service and productivity that is commensurate with their compensation.” Those base compensation changes will be communicated individually.

On top of this compensation model, we’re told that just like last year’s streamlined model, the firm’s bonus scale rewards only the highest performers — those who have billed 1950 or more hours — with market rates. Once again, the firm will award additional bonus money to its highest billers (i.e., those with 2250+ hours).

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Congratulations to everyone at Lowenstein Sandler.

Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates, so when your firm announces or matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus/Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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2023 Associate Salary Increase, Associate Bonus Watch 2023, Biglaw, Bonus News Alerts, Bonuses, Lowenstein Sandler, Money