Biglaw Firm Tries Again With Third Round Of Raises For Associates

// As the old saying goes, third time’s a charm! And that’s increasingly the motto of Biglaw firms trying to stay on top of the compensation heap.

The latest firm to announce raises — their *third* round of them — is Irell & Manella. The firm made $132,903,000 in gross revenue in 2020, making it 183rd in the Am Law 200. Irell previously announced raises, back when the Milbank scale was the top of the market. Then Davis Polk increased that scale for midlevel and senior associates, which the firm promptly matched. But then Cravath went and spoiled that. But Irell is committed to the top of the compensation scale, so a third round of raises is in order.

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Yesterday, the firm announced the following compensation scale:

Class Base Compensation 1st year $215,000 2nd year $225,000 3rd year $250,000 4th year $295,000 5th year $345,000 6th year $370,000 7th year $400,000 8th year $415,000

The increases are retroactive to January 1. You can read the full memo on the next page.

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*** Wondering if the grass is greener on the in-house side? Click here for a look inside the black box of corporate counsel pay in our 2021 In-House Compensation Report. ***

Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] 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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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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2022 Associate Salary Increase, Biglaw, Bonus News Alerts, Bonuses, Irell & Manella, Money