What goes down must go up – salaries on the rise

DLA Piper on Thursday became the latest firm to raise associate salaries pack to pre-2008 levels, according to the National Law Journal, an Am Law Daily sibling publication. The firm cut salaries in June of 2009 at the same time it announced plans to implement a broader merit-based pay system for associates, according the NLJ.

The skinny is this: Associates in major markets will have starting salaries pushed back up to $160,000 after the firm cut them back to $145,000, the NLJ says, citing an internal memo sent out Thursday. The firm had boosted starting salaries in New York back to the $160,000 mark in January, but Thursday's memo means that move will now extend to the firm's other key offices. Starting salaries for associates in secondary markets, such as Phoenix, Tampa Bay and Sacramento, will jump back up to $145,000 from $130,000, the NLJ reports.

The goal of the raise is to retain mid-level associates, but the firm decided to raise salaries for all associates at once rather doing so in steps, the NLJ says. Terry O'Malley, the firm's U.S. managing partner, stressed that the firm did not decide on the raises because of job market pressures.

Source - ALM Daily