BigLaw Pay vs Boutique Pay Scale Sonia Hickey The boutiques are once again teaching BigLaw a lesson in how to spend money on associates with New York boutique Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider, a New York-founded antitrust and litigation shop, is dishing out special bonuses of $10,000 to $25,000, payable by 15 July, per a 23 […]
Axinn’s Boutique Offers $25,000 Bonuses While BigLaw Plays Catch-Up Read More »
The London legal market just got another massive jolt as US mega-firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett muscles further into City territory.
Simpson Thacher, a private equity titan, the elite New York-headquartered firm has officially launched its first-ever formal UK training contract, which they are backing it up with serious Wall Street cash showing – once again – how the big money US firms are reshaping the London legal scene.
The deal firms have not yet decided what to tell the market in the Pay War KEY TAKEAWAY: Six firms have matched Milbank’s 2 June 2026 scale of $235K–$455K. Every one — McDermott Will & Schulte, Hueston Hennigan, Quinn Emanuel, Katten, Texas litigation boutique Vartabedian Katz Hester Haynes, and Dunn Isaacson Rhee on bonuses —
Litigation Won The First Round Of The 2026 Pay War Read More »
It took longer than anyone on r/biglaw thought possible, but the BigLaw salary scale has finally moved and, in news that will shock precisely nobody, Milbank is once again the firm doing the heavy lifting for everyone else’s associates. The firm has announced a new associate pay scale effective 1 July 2026, with raises ranging
Milbank Breaks The Freeze And BigLaw’s 2026 Pay War Is Back On Read More »
It is May 2026, and the BigLaw salary scale has not moved for two and a half years.
That sentence would have sounded unthinkable in 2021, when Milbank ignited a comp war that pushed first-year associates from $190,000 to $215,000 in eight weeks. Three years on, Class of 2025 first-years are starting on $225,000 — the same number Milbank put on the board in November 2023. Eighth-years are still on $435,000. Cravath confirmed in its November 18, 2025 bonus memo, in writing, that base salaries would not rise in 2026.
The lockstep is intact. The escalator has stopped.
So when does it start again, we ask – and presumably you want the answer to that so we’ve done our best to pose some on-the-button questions.
Log in and check how the salary scale looks now . . .
The Phantom Raise: Why The 2026 BigLaw Scale Hasn’t Moved — And Which Firm Breaks First Read More »
A decade ago, $6 million was considered a breathtaking partner payday at a top US law firm. Today, that figure barely cracks the Am Law 100’s top ten. The 2026 Am Law 100 rankings, reflecting 2025 financial performance, tell the story of an industry that has fundamentally reset what “profitable” means: $178.95 billion in aggregate revenues, a $12.15 million average payout for equity partners at Wachtell Lipton, and Kirkland & Ellis becoming the first law firm in history to surpass $10 billion in annual revenue.
The rich got richer, the gap widened, and almost nobody at the top is apologising for it.
Read the LawFuel review of the AmLaw 100 – login
$12 Million Paydays, a $10 Billion Firm, and Biglaw’s Best Run in Years Read More »
Pallas Partners Outpaced Biglaw Bonus Scales Norma Harris Pallas Partners, the transatlantic litigation boutique headed by power lawyer Natasha Harrison, that’s been quietly building a reputation with elite hires on both sides of the Atlantic has just dropped a compensation grenade into Big Law’s year-end bonus melee. The firm’s associates and counsel will receive total
Pallas Partners Blows Up Cravath-Scale Bonuses in 2025 Bonus Wars Read More »
Cravath Fires the Starting Gun, Milbank Plays Coy, and Everyone Scrambles Like It’s Black Friday Sonia Hickey Bonus season – that magical time of year when Biglaw associates pretend to care about “firm culture” while frantically refreshing their inboxes, praying for a six-figure dopamine hit before the holiday eggnog kicks in. As of November 20,
Following months of market uncertainty, the summer bonus season at BigLaw has exceeded expectations with Milbank’s announcing special bonuses ranging from $6,000 to $25,000 for associates, a cascade of firms has followed suit. But a new trend is also emerging in the way compensation is being handed to associates.
While partners enjoy increased PEP rates with premium work, the competitive world of associate recruitment is seeing some major changes in the way law firms handle the compensation for their top performers at associate level.
The summer bonus season is seeing that trend play out.
Boutique Firm Vartabedian Hester & Haynes Blazes Bonus Trail With Generous Summer Payouts While Biglaw firms continue their summer tradition of radio silence on bonuses, one ambitious boutique isn’t waiting around. Texas-based Vartabedian Hester & Haynes, a rising litigation boutique specializing in complex commercial disputes, has just announced a firm-wide bonus that’s turning heads. All
Boutique Bonus Season: The Summer Bonus Payments Arriving Read More »
