After a series of compensation hikes and special bonuses, some started to argue that associate salaries had settled for the foreseeable future. Even with revenues hitting all-time highs, some analysts felt that firms had exhausted their appetite for adding permanent expenses and would shift to waging the battle for talent through special bonuses and one-off signing perks, as opposed to further rise in annual salaries.
Milbank, the firm that’s done the most to push the market toward long-term salary increases having raised the bar in 2021 and of course kicked things off in 2016 and again in 2018, has done it again.
Earlier this morning, the firm announced that it would be boosting the salary scale across the board with $10K raises for the four most junior classes and $20K raises for the mid-levels and seniors. Here’s the new scale:
| Class | Old Salary | New Salary |
| Class of 2021 | $205K | $215K |
| Class of 2020 | $215K | $225K |
| Class of 2019 | $240K | $250K |
| Class of 2018 | $275K | $285K |
| Class of 2017 | $305K | $325K |
| Class of 2016 | $330K | $350K |
| Class of 2015 | $350K | $370K |
| Class of 2014+ | $365K | $385K |
This applies to all associates in the US, London, Asia, and São Paulo offices and will be retroactive to January 1.
Congratulations to Milbank associates and… probably a lot of associates at other firms soon too.
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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
