Associate Salaries And Bonuses Are Bigger Than Ever — But They’re Still Not Big Enough

It’s an increase, but it still lags behind how much more partners have been making. [Junior lawyers are] more or less making the same as associates made in 2008, adjusted for inflation, while partner comp has doubled.

— a midlevel corporate associate, offering just one of the reasons why associates are dissatisfied with salary and bonus increases this year, during a conversation with Insider. Equity partners at the associate’s New York City-based firm made more than $3 million each last year. Over the course of the past 10 years, partner profits soared by 85%, but associate salaries climbed by just 44% during the same period of time. According to Biglaw Investor, law firms’ most junior associates do, in fact, make less than they did in 2008 (accounting for inflation), while associates with three or more years of experience are making more now than even before the Great Recession.

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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 or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Associate Bonus Watch 2021, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Quote of the Day