Special Features

New Associates’ Salary Survey - 2007

Starting salaries at large firms across the commonwealth have skyrocketed to record amounts in the past year, topping 2006 rates by as much as $35,000. Today’s law degree could be worth as much as $160,000 to a newly minted graduate working in Northern Virginia.

Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s 20th annual New Associate Salary Survey continues to track the current trends among top-paying law firms. These figures are watched by both large and small firm lawyers across Virginia, and generally reflect the state of the marketplace.

A sluggish economy had kept pay rates relatively steady through the first half of the decade. But that changed last year, when a number of large firms raised new lawyer salaries by an average of $10,000. That push has continued into 2007, and seems to be speeding up rather than slowing down. In addition, many big firms continue to offer a variety of bonuses to supplement the first year’s income.

We based this year’s survey, however, solely on the base salary for new attorneys. Most of the figures were reported by NALP, the National Association of Law Placement, although we relied on a handful of firm interviews.

Results from the 2007 survey are featured on the next page.

Regional breakdown

As is typical, starting pay remains highest among Northern Virginia firms. At least seven of the big names in the region cite $160,000 as their latest benchmark figure. Troutman Sanders in McLean made the biggest jump to this amount. Other firms surveyed in this area linger in the $120,000 to $145,000 range.

Salaries in other regions have been impacted as well, with rates reflecting the local economy and cost of living.

In the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas, the firms which last year were reporting $115,000 have now reached $145,000. This is the current going rate for the Richmond offices of Hunton & Williams, McGuireWoods and Troutman Sanders. Most of the firms surveyed in these regions have now reached the six-digit mark.

Two big firms out of Roanoke, Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore and Woods Rogers, have also jumped to an even $70,000 and $80,000, respectively.

Even with the rise in salaries, the overall demand for lawyers has not shifted, according to Rob Kaplan, associate dean of career services at the College of William & Mary law school.

When the economy is steady, a salary increase is driven mainly “by what firms perceive as giving themselves a competitive edge in the recruiting process,” Kaplan said. He describes it as a “quick and easy step” towards bringing in top-level talent.

But this practice may not necessarily be for the best. It can even work to a firm’s disadvantage to automatically increase salaries to keep up with a norm, said Kaplan.

Often times, big firms in the commonwealth track what their counterparts in metropolitan areas such as New York and Los Angeles are paying their new hires, and follow suit. But this can send a message to law students that Virginia localities run their offices like a big city firm. These firms can fail to differentiate themselves as unique to the area, and may not appear attuned to the legal issues surrounding them, Kaplan said.

And while the salary spike is good news for new attorneys, it could pose as a deterrent for prospective clients, who may be unwilling or unable to shell out the legal fees required to support such paychecks.

But Kaplan predicts that starting salaries for new associates are likely to continue increasing in the coming years, despite these potential problems. “Every time this salary escalation happens,” he said, “conventional wisdom says it won’t keep going - but it does.”

New Associates’ Salary Survey

RICHMOND	2006	2007
Christian & Barton	$75,000	$90,000
Hirschler Fleischer	$87,000	$100,000
Hunton & Williams	$115,000	$145,000
LeClair Ryan	$85,000+	$90,000+
Reed Smith	$100,000	$110,000
Troutman Sanders	$115,000	$145,000
Williams Mullen	$92,000	$110,000-120,000
HAMPTON ROADS
Hunton & Williams	$115,000	$145,000
Troutman Sanders	$95,000	$130,000
Willcox & Savage	$100,000	$110,000
Williams Mullen	$92,000	$110,000
ROANOKE
Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore	$66,000	$70,000
Woods Rogers	$72,000	$80,000
NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Akerman Senterfitt	N/A	$130,000
Cooley Godward	$135,000	$160,000
DLA Piper Rudnick	$135,000	$160,000
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner	$135,000	$160,000
Greenberg Traurig	$125,000	$130,000
Hogan & Hartson	$135,000	$160,000
Holland & Knight	$135,000	$152,500
Hunton & Williams	$135,000	$160,000
Oblon Spivak McClelland Maier & Neustadt	$135,000	$145,000
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman	$135,000	$145,000
Reed Smith	$125,000	$125,000
Troutman Sanders	$125,000	$160,000
Venable	$135,000	$145,000
Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease	$110,000	$125,000
Watt Tieder Hoffar & Fitzgerald	$120,000	$125,000
Williams Mullen	$120,000	$120,000
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice	$135,000	$125,000

*Sources: NALP Surveys, firm interviews

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