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I have seen plenty of firms in NYC, Chi, DC, and other large markets that do lockstep list out their salaries, usually 1st year 160, 2nd 170, 3rd 185, 4th 210, etc. But I haven't seen any firms listed in secondary markets mentioned beyond first year. I know that Faegre in Minneapolis starts out at 110 and Bryan Cave in St. Louis starts at 120, but what do salaries of 5th year associates look like at these firms and cities? Do they still do lockstep?

I am under the impression that many secondary market salaries (possibly excluding DC/Chi/LA) are not lock-step past the first few years; they surely don't have such steep increases in class salary like you see in the NYC market.

Some of this will depend on where the firm's main office is.

I work in a secondary/tertiary market but for a firm that is based out of a major market. Our salary increases are the same as the main office (NY lockstep). Other firms based in my market are different, though. Their lockstep raises are much lower...though they do start at 160. They just increase less dramatically from there.

OP here, I am going to be working at a big firm in Chicago that follows the NYC lockstep that I listed. I am thinking about after a few years lateraling to a secondary midwest market. Does anyone know the range that a 4th or 5th year associate at one of the larger firms in (MPLS/StL/Indy) would be looking at? Thanks

Anonymous User wrote:OP here, I am going to be working at a big firm in Chicago that follows the NYC lockstep that I listed. I am thinking about after a few years lateraling to a secondary midwest market. Does anyone know the range that a 4th or 5th year associate at one of the larger firms in (MPLS/StL/Indy) would be looking at? Thanks

One last bump to see if anyone has info

It is going to vary from market to market and firm to firm. Some firms move associates in secondary markets up at the same lockstep rate. Others start associates off at 160, but compress the pay scale so that the upper end is lower than in NYC. Some firms start associates out below 160 and do not do lockstep. There is not going to be a single answer for a given market.

Yeah I don't think anyone can answer definitively. I will say that for Midwest markets it will be incredibly rare to find a firm that does NY lockstep. Finding a firm that even starts at 160 is pretty rare, let alone one that goes up at lockstep increases. Maybe Bryan cave in stl? Not sure.

I remember hearing that the Atlanta salary scale for one biglaw firm was 135, 140, 145, 152, 162, 175, 185, 190. I wouldn't be surprised if St Louis firms paid in that ballpark. MN firms are probably a bit lower and Indy firms low still.


Source: http://abovethelaw.com/2010/03/bonus-an ... -spalding/

And any ballpark ideas for bonuses?

Some of the DE mid-size players follow a lockstep approach (not NY, but still increased base pay every year + bonus). The DE outfits of NY law firms (Skadden, Paul Weiss, etc.) follow NY lockstep + bonus. Hope that helps.

One Midwest regional biglaw partner mentioned that his total comp. (salary + bonus) in his final year before making partner was ~$270k. That's roughly comparable to NYC lockstep without its own applicable bonus. So, it's clearly less total, but of course, the CoL is substantially less (and hours may be a bit less, too). As others have mentioned, I'm sure this varies by firm and market, but given CoL differences, that sounded like plenty to me.