It's the kind of thing that led to the Sherman Antitrust Act. How is it that for so long the big firms were in lockstep and offered the same salary to starting lawyers, who stayed in rank as the years advanced? Did they have secret meetings at their Masonic Temples? Or the Odd Fellows Halls? Or did each just toe the line until somebody crossed it? Probably the last.
Anyway, just what is the value that separates, say $70,000 to start from $160,000?
The graph above, from NALP , dramatically illustrates that, among those who reported their post-2008- graduation landings to the counselors at their law schools, there are few starting salaries between those two poles. 42% report salaries between $40,00 and $65,000. 23% report starting at $160,000. (It's a large sample but subject to some discount for high-percentage reporting by the winners. It is respondents to a survey, not grads that are counted.)
So it is notable that the 700 lawyer anti-trust and litigation firm Howrey, LLP has broken ranks dramatically. The firm announced a new two-year apprenticeship model . They will hire law grads at $100,000 for a two year training period before they bump up billing rates commensurate with the market for the increased skill that the training provided.
The twin peaks above show that there will be plenty of candidates for those $100k jobs - and that there is plenty of room to reduce the number of $160k jobs. It looks like a bold competitive move by Howrey.
For more facts on the whole issue, check out this post on Legal Profession Blog by Bill Henderson.
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