The Wired GC promises a client's thoughts on legal salaries
The Wired GC promises us one client's view on the salaries paid to associates in large law firms in the United States. The GC begins with a question:
But today I’ll end with a question. Why is this news? Why don’t we hear what new MBAs make at Fortune 50 companies? Or new residents at major research hospitals? Or new CPAs at the Big Four (or however many there are left this week)?Do the major legal publications torture managing partners to extract this information? It’s sort of unseemly. Guess how much my new Mercedes convertible cost! Guess how much my new IWC watch cost! Guess how much my new associate cost!
The answer to that question is straightforward enough: Firms quite readily tell law students what first year salaries they pay. They volunteer this information to candidates and to the National Association for Law Placement. Anyone can look at the NALP Directory online (though it might be a bit out of date - for example, it doesn't appear to include the latest salary increases). So, information about starting salaries flows freely. Does the same thing happen at other kinds of businesses? I assume not, but I wouldn't know.
