After New York firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett raised first-year pay to $160,000, all eyes have turned to large California-based firms to see if they too will raise their rates. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, for example, was one of the few CA firms that had matched NY’s $145,000, but now it has another 15 thousand with which to contend. Other NY firms like Sullivan & Cromwell matched Simpon’s raise, but unlike Simpson, not all of them applied the new salary to all of their offices. Speculation abounds as to whether CA firms will rise to the challenge, but most likely the powerhouse firms will match NY to stay competitive, while the lower-performing firms will not. This difference will increase segmentation in the CA market.
Source: www.law.com