Milbank/Davis Polk/Cravath Scale: NYC to 215-415k Forum

[Anonymous User]

FUCK ARNOLD AND PORTER. They just matched the DAVIS POLK scale--NOT CRAVATH. With that, I am logging off for the day. Fuck this cheap ass firm.

Are they tone deaf? Might as well not match, that looks so bad

Ummmmm if I were an AP associate I'd rather a DPW match than no match. And sure it's not CravaTTTh, but it's still thousands more than those pathetic, tight-fisted bastards at Milbank were trying to get away with a couple months ago.

Realistically though, AP will eventually have to match Cravath once the other DC firms do, or else their entire midlevel team will be poached by other woefully understaffed firms that are paying market.

A DPW match after Cravath raise is saying they will not match Cravath. Firms that haven't matched yet at all will eventually match Cravath.

It's them trying to set the market for the legacy DC firms and create a DC/NYC split. But if Covington and Hogan match Cravath now, which they likely will, AP will have to relent. A major unforced error. They should've just waited for Covington like they always do. Embarrassing.

There are too many non-DC firms in DC for this to work. And they still try this every single time.

Wilmer and Gibson will match, not to mention the big DC outposts like Skadden and Kirkland. Cov/Hogan (and eventually AP) will be forced to keep up.

Skadden, Kirkland, Latham, Sidley have already matched Cravath, which is why this is such a bizarre and stupid move.

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

FUCK ARNOLD AND PORTER. They just matched the DAVIS POLK scale--NOT CRAVATH. With that, I am logging off for the day. Fuck this cheap ass firm.

Are they tone deaf? Might as well not match, that looks so bad

Ummmmm if I were an AP associate I'd rather a DPW match than no match. And sure it's not CravaTTTh, but it's still thousands more than those pathetic, tight-fisted bastards at Milbank were trying to get away with a couple months ago.

Realistically though, AP will eventually have to match Cravath once the other DC firms do, or else their entire midlevel team will be poached by other woefully understaffed firms that are paying market.

A DPW match after Cravath raise is saying they will not match Cravath. Firms that haven't matched yet at all will eventually match Cravath.

It's them trying to set the market for the legacy DC firms and create a DC/NYC split. But if Covington and Hogan match Cravath now, which they likely will, AP will have to relent. A major unforced error. They should've just waited for Covington like they always do. Embarrassing.

Ropes matched so Wilmer pretty much has to. Gibson will match too. Plus, other firms like LW, KE, etc. have been gaining recruiting ground in DC. If AP and CovingTTTon start paying less, they will just accelerate that trend.

[Anonymous User]

Gotta admit that Cravath played this round perfectly. They waited until there was no more risk of being reupped, then set the scale. We may grumble here but bottom line it's the Cravath Scale™ again. And with global uncertainty, possibly for at least several years.

For all the debate over why DPW waited so long, the most likely reason is they had a guess Cravath was gonna raise and wanted the last word. Game of chicken. They blinked first.

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k starting.

[Anonymous User]

Will shearman match?

[Anonymous User]

Gotta admit that Cravath played this round perfectly. They waited until there was no more risk of being reupped, then set the scale. We may grumble here but bottom line it's the Cravath Scale™ again. And with global uncertainty, possibly for at least several years.

For all the debate over why DPW waited so long, the most likely reason is they had a guess Cravath was gonna raise and wanted the last word. Game of chicken. They blinked first.

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k starting.

Agree with this. Cravath and DPW get credit in my book but it's really Milbank that all the goodwill should be directed toward. I still don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that we'll see special bonuses announced this year too and Milbank is one of the major reasons I think like that. They're an awesome "spoiler" of the usual biglaw conservatism / cheapness and it's a pleasure to watch them do their thing and force the other firms to react.

[Anonymous User]

Will shearman match?

I really do love these law students spicing it up with new questions

[Anonymous User]

V&E matched the Cravath raise, retro to Jan 1. They previously matched DPW last week.

[Anonymous User]

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k 160k starting.

Fixed that for you, then +1

[Anon-non-anon]

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k 160k starting.

Fixed that for you, then +1

Did my vault survey. Milbank and Cravath are 10s. DPW was close. My firm, former firms, and good friends' firms, all 10s. Everyone else, 1.

[Anonymous User]

Gotta admit that Cravath played this round perfectly. They waited until there was no more risk of being reupped, then set the scale. We may grumble here but bottom line it's the Cravath Scale™ again. And with global uncertainty, possibly for at least several years.

For all the debate over why DPW waited so long, the most likely reason is they had a guess Cravath was gonna raise and wanted the last word. Game of chicken. They blinked first.

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k starting.

Oh I agree, just saying how I think it'll be perceived by the less online types. Firms will still say "we pay cravath scale". There was a while when it looked like that term would be phased out.

[Anonymous User]

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k 160k starting.

Fixed that for you, then +1

Did my vault survey. Milbank and Cravath are 10s. DPW was close. My firm, former firms, and good friends' firms, all 10s. Everyone else, 1.

Um

[Anonymous User]

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k 160k starting.

Fixed that for you, then +1

Did my vault survey. Milbank and Cravath are 10s. DPW was close. My firm, former firms, and good friends' firms, all 10s. Everyone else, 1.

You can't rate your own firm.

[Anonymous User]

Ranking Milbank 10 for first mover and CSM 9 for re-raising. Ranking DPW 1 for dragging their asses only to be reupped.

Too late, I already ranked before the reraise. Also CSM dragged just as much, nothing stopping them from announcing this the day after Milbank scale.

I think it's clear now that CSM and DPW were playing cat and mouse to see who could have the last word. Arguably, DPW is more commendable for finally breaking the silence.

Cravath was arguably waiting for DPW, the current market leader, to move first. Plus, Cravath hasn't been reupped. DPW still looks worse here.

[Anonymous User]

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k 160k starting.

Fixed that for you, then +1

Did my vault survey. Milbank and Cravath are 10s. DPW was close. My firm, former firms, and good friends' firms, all 10s. Everyone else, 1.

Um

Imagine being a law student larping as a biglaw associate. Remember when they used to enforce that here?

And just to get the rumor mill going, why wouldn’t dpw do some +20% to flex on Cravath like they did during bonus season?

[Anonymous User]

Maybe DPW will just do spring/summer bonuses instead of bumping the salary scale again.

[Anonymous User]

Why are some firms still not announcing anything? S&C? W&C? MoFo? Shearman?

Do they still think the salary war hasn't ended and there could be further raises? The longer they wait, the worse they look.

[Anonymous User]

Why are some firms still not announcing anything? S&C? W&C? MoFo? Shearman?

Do they still think the salary war hasn't ended and there could be further raises? The longer they wait, the worse they look.

S&C is a joke. They didn't pay summers in 2020. Program was cancelled and they got paid $19K.

[Anonymous User]

CSM/Kirkland are going to re-raise. I feel it in my bones.

OP here.

Correction: CSM is going to re-raise. I feel it in my bones.

Let’s hope you got some pretty reliable bones

OP here. My bones are reliable as hell

Nicely done OP. You deserve the victory lap.

OP here. I’m doubling down. DPW will either re-raise or announce a special bonus. I feel it in my bones.

[Anonymous User]

Why are some firms still not announcing anything? S&C? W&C? MoFo? Shearman?

Do they still think the salary war hasn't ended and there could be further raises? The longer they wait, the worse they look.

S&C is a joke. They didn't pay summers in 2020. Program was cancelled and they got paid $19K.

If they don't match by the end of this week, they are struggling. They must know that the longer they drag on, the stronger the impression they give off to others that they aren't doing well.

Some firms boast their strong performance in deal rankings. But who cares about how they do in the league tables if their associates aren't compensated well and their morale at its nadir. I honestly don't give a fuck how my firm does unless they pay me market salary

[Anon-non-anon]

I still think most of the credit goes to Milbank. Basically, there are three compensation leaders, CSM, DPW, Milbank. Milbank gets the war going, then either CSM or DPW finish it off. But if Milbank never raised to begin with, though, there's a good chance we'd still be at 190k 160k starting.

Fixed that for you, then +1

Did my vault survey. Milbank and Cravath are 10s. DPW was close. My firm, former firms, and good friends' firms, all 10s. Everyone else, 1.

Um

Imagine being a law student larping as a biglaw associate. Remember when they used to enforce that here?

And just to get the rumor mill going, why wouldn’t dpw do some +20% to flex on Cravath like they did during bonus season?

Whoops! Not my firm, sorry! That was my intention but now realizing that's why it wasn't in the category rankings either at the end. Not larping as an associate, would rather be a law student honestly.

[Anonymous User]

Foley Hoag full match of Cravath, retroactive to Jan. 1. Boston is moving.

[Anonymous User]

Why are some firms still not announcing anything? S&C? W&C? MoFo? Shearman?

Do they still think the salary war hasn't ended and there could be further raises? The longer they wait, the worse they look.

S&C is a joke. They didn't pay summers in 2020. Program was cancelled and they got paid $19K.

If they don't match by the end of this week, they are struggling. They must know that the longer they drag on, the stronger the impression they give off to others that they aren't doing well.

Some firms boast their strong performance in deal rankings. But who cares about how they do in the league tables if their associates aren't compensated well and their morale at its nadir. I honestly don't give a fuck how my firm does unless they pay me market salary

Is S&C really "not doing well"? Aren't they top-10 in PPP?

[Anonymous User]

Confirmed DPW just matched CSM's new scale.

[Anonymous User]

Confirmed DPW just matched CSM's new scale.

Guess this means we now have the Cravath scale and the Arnold & POORter scale.