i heard from a number of important ppl that nyc market is going to 180k. any truth behind that?

Saddest attempted flame ever.

Weren't you suupposed to post this 2 days ago bro?

OUT DAT OP FLAME

It's not totally implausible. Once the market started heating up (more accurately: de-thawed?) I know a lot of firms ran into retention problems, which as best as I can tell was the root of NYC to 160 back in the day.

I heard "from a number of important people" that NYC market is going to 160k + free CrossFit and Chipotle

That definitely amounts to 20K annually. Basically the same thing. I'm down.

If the retention problem is not serious enough to warrant spring bonuses, it is not serious enough to warrant a base salary increase. A base salary increase isn't going to happen in the foreseeable future.

Not happening. And the retention problem alluded to above impacted midlevels, whose bonuses have been adjusted accordingly. No one cares about first years.

Must be true then.
/sarcasm

Niiiiiiccceeee....

The real question is do the other big firms care? The article mentioned how Cravath and friends have been getting beat this year in bonus payouts so we will see if they view these turn of events as real challenges to their prestige dominance...

That's pretty interesting. The website says there are only 12 associates and law clerks total, so it's unlikely the major firms will follow. But anything is possible.

It's certainly true for that one firm.

DC to 180k happened a few years ago with a really super prestigious firm and no one followed. I think...

Williams & Connolly doesn't pay bonuses. Pre-ITE I think associates at other DC firms were a little better off, but now W&C associates do better. Plus they make $3450/week over the summer.

I love emergent memes.

NY TO 180!!!

I'd love for NYC to actually hit 180K since I'll be an SA there this summer, but I'm just not seeing it (yet). Most firms raised salaries in the early 2000s from 120 to 130 to 145 to 160 because they wanted the top associates and didn't want to get left behind by the market. I don't see how a firm with 11 associates makes any of the big firms cave. Desmarais just isn't a threat to steal enough of the top associates for it to matter.

Caveat: while I don't think any big firms will follow, I think if any one of the major firms does, almost everyone will follow.

Agree with this. Anemic bonuses but then higher bases? Prolly not. Edit: also, I don't get the whole "retention problem" thing. Everyone pays say same base and same bonus, where are people going??

The increase in salaries may have begun when the market was de-thawing, but the final 160k figure seems to have come at the very height of the heyday.
http://abovethelaw.com/2007/01/breaking-simpson-thacher-raises-associate-base-salaries/

Questionable reporting by ATL on this one. I really doubt the big firms see any retention threat from an IP boutique moving to 180K. I also fail to see how this will "trickle down through recruiting" since 99% of law students don't have an EE degree.

I'm hopeful, but realistic.

With due respect because the guy is a baller, Desmarais is now basically a patent troll for hire. He can diversify back I'm sure, but for now, not sure how sustainable that business model is.

So new IP associates to 180k?

What do you mean by diversify back?