This year is shaping up as a lucrative one for Big Law associates, as firms raise associate salaries to new scales set initially in January by Milbank, bumped up by Davis Polk & Wardwell, and then raised yet again by Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
The lofty compensation for associates comes as busy firms strive to meet competitive pressure in the crucial effort to retain young talent. The latest iteration of the salary scale calls for a $215,000 salary for first-year associates and ranges up to $415,000 for eighth-years.
