NY to 200k?! Forum

[Anonymous User]

Skadden partners are figuring out language for email announcement. Will likely be announced separately.

Is this actual info or a complete guess? If it is info, what is your source?

I don't work at Skadden, but know numerous people who do work there. Given the size of the potential retention bonuses I heard of (over $50k for some classes), I doubt the salary raise is going to stop any retention bonus. However, the amount of the bonus may be lowered as a result of the salary increases.

I believe Skadden partners meet on Wednesdays. Would not shock me to hear something tomorrow, Thursday, or the same days next week if the firm is waiting to see if anyone raises salary scale.

Not a guess, but second hand from a friend at Skadden. I’m sure they need to get the wording correct for the announcement and don’t want to mess it up. Expected to be bonus paid out this year with a clawback.

[Chrstgtr]

There are already bonuses coming in a few months and again at year-end. “Retention bonuses” don’t make sense until the spring. They can’t possibly keep anyone around who was already leaving before year-end since those are the real beefy bonuses anyway.

Actually, no. Skadden originally planned to pay the "Fall" installment in December. It could be that Skadden realized their error and is moving up the payment date from December to September, which won't move the market at all. But if Skadden realized they need to pay more bonuses sooner then that would move the market. We can hope for the latter.

[Anonymous User]

Skadden partners are figuring out language for email announcement. Will likely be announced separately.

Is this actual info or a complete guess? If it is info, what is your source?

I don't work at Skadden, but know numerous people who do work there. Given the size of the potential retention bonuses I heard of (over $50k for some classes), I doubt the salary raise is going to stop any retention bonus. However, the amount of the bonus may be lowered as a result of the salary increases.

I believe Skadden partners meet on Wednesdays. Would not shock me to hear something tomorrow, Thursday, or the same days next week if the firm is waiting to see if anyone raises salary scale.

Not a guess, but second hand from a friend at Skadden. I’m sure they need to get the wording correct for the announcement and don’t want to mess it up. Expected to be bonus paid out this year with a clawback.

My tipster told me plan is for payment in 2022 rather than up front. Also amounts differentiated by practice group.

[Anonymous User]

Skadden email is out. It's a match (no direct mention of C/O 2021 payscale).

Was this only sent to counsel? Am Skadden corporate senior and have not heard anything about matches.

[Anonymous User]

Skadden email is out. It's a match (no direct mention of C/O 2021 payscale).

Was this only sent to counsel? Am Skadden corporate senior and have not heard anything about matches.

Friedman email approx 6pm

[Anonymous User]

lol so no retention bonuses for skadden, just a matched salary and a slightly accelerated counsel track

No retention bonuses so far. Counsel scale was also increased to:

1st year: $385k
2nd year: $395k
3rd year+: $405k

Just so we're clear on this, does this mean

Class of 2012: 385k base
Class of 2011: 395k base
Class of 2010: 405k base

?

Not sure how the associate vs. counsel progression works at Skadden.

Also the email says only associates in good standing get the salary increase. At Skadden that means annualizing 1800. If someone is annualizing 1750, are they therefore still on the old scale?

[Anonymous User]

lol so no retention bonuses for skadden, just a matched salary and a slightly accelerated counsel track

No retention bonuses so far. Counsel scale was also increased to:

1st year: $385k
2nd year: $395k
3rd year+: $405k

Just so we're clear on this, does this mean

Class of 2012: 385k base
Class of 2011: 395k base
Class of 2010: 405k base

?

Not sure how the associate vs. counsel progression works at Skadden.

Also the email says only associates in good standing get the salary increase. At Skadden that means annualizing 1800. If someone is annualizing 1750, are they therefore still on the old scale?

Re-upping this so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Can someone from Skadden in the know confirm any of this? Does 1st year counsel = Class of 2012 (385)? 2nd year counsel = Class of 2011 (395)? 3rd year counsel = Class of 2010 (405)? This matters for more senior attorneys here so we can make sure our firms are being market competitive.

[Anonymous User]

lol so no retention bonuses for skadden, just a matched salary and a slightly accelerated counsel track

No retention bonuses so far. Counsel scale was also increased to:

1st year: $385k
2nd year: $395k
3rd year+: $405k

Just so we're clear on this, does this mean

Class of 2012: 385k base
Class of 2011: 395k base
Class of 2010: 405k base

?

Not sure how the associate vs. counsel progression works at Skadden.

Also the email says only associates in good standing get the salary increase. At Skadden that means annualizing 1800. If someone is annualizing 1750, are they therefore still on the old scale?

Re-upping this so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Can someone from Skadden in the know confirm any of this? Does 1st year counsel = Class of 2012 (385)? 2nd year counsel = Class of 2011 (395)? 3rd year counsel = Class of 2010 (405)? This matters for more senior attorneys here so we can make sure our firms are being market competitive.

When you make Counsel, you move to the Counsel Scale. It doesn’t matter what year you entered the firm, when you make Counsel you are on the 1st year Counsel scale. Each June 1st you get promoted to the next Counsel year.

[Anonymous User]

lol so no retention bonuses for skadden, just a matched salary and a slightly accelerated counsel track

No retention bonuses so far. Counsel scale was also increased to:

1st year: $385k
2nd year: $395k
3rd year+: $405k

Just so we're clear on this, does this mean

Class of 2012: 385k base
Class of 2011: 395k base
Class of 2010: 405k base

?

Not sure how the associate vs. counsel progression works at Skadden.

Also the email says only associates in good standing get the salary increase. At Skadden that means annualizing 1800. If someone is annualizing 1750, are they therefore still on the old scale?

Re-upping this so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Can someone from Skadden in the know confirm any of this? Does 1st year counsel = Class of 2012 (385)? 2nd year counsel = Class of 2011 (395)? 3rd year counsel = Class of 2010 (405)? This matters for more senior attorneys here so we can make sure our firms are being market competitive.

When you make Counsel, you move to the Counsel Scale. It doesn’t matter what year you entered the firm, when you make Counsel you are on the 1st year Counsel scale. Each June 1st you get promoted to the next Counsel year.

Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?

[Chitune]

Skaddens memo didn't have summers on the email chain and no mention of the raises affecting summer pay. Does that mean summers aren't getting more too...?

Any idea if the salary increase includes the London office, or US offices alone?

[NYto200K]

lol so no retention bonuses for skadden, just a matched salary and a slightly accelerated counsel track

No retention bonuses so far. Counsel scale was also increased to:

1st year: $385k
2nd year: $395k
3rd year+: $405k

Just so we're clear on this, does this mean

Class of 2012: 385k base
Class of 2011: 395k base
Class of 2010: 405k base

?

Not sure how the associate vs. counsel progression works at Skadden.

Also the email says only associates in good standing get the salary increase. At Skadden that means annualizing 1800. If someone is annualizing 1750, are they therefore still on the old scale?

Re-upping this so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Can someone from Skadden in the know confirm any of this? Does 1st year counsel = Class of 2012 (385)? 2nd year counsel = Class of 2011 (395)? 3rd year counsel = Class of 2010 (405)? This matters for more senior attorneys here so we can make sure our firms are being market competitive.

When you make Counsel, you move to the Counsel Scale. It doesn’t matter what year you entered the firm, when you make Counsel you are on the 1st year Counsel scale. Each June 1st you get promoted to the next Counsel year.

Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?

The amount of people using anonymous feature to ask innocent shit (like but not limited to the post I'm quoting) or make silly remarks that have no personally identifiable information (unlike the post I'm quoting) is mind-boggling. Are people literally afraid to have an opinion?

To answer the question about whether counsel is a dead-end, there is no universal answer. Some firms promote counsel to partner. My V10 does. But some counsel spend decades as such at my firm too.

[Sackboy]

Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?

The amount of people using anonymous feature to ask innocent shit (like but not limited to the post I'm quoting) or make silly remarks that have no personally identifiable information (unlike the post I'm quoting) is mind-boggling. Are people literally afraid to have an opinion?

To answer the question about whether counsel is a dead-end, there is no universal answer. Some firms promote counsel to partner. My V10 does. But some counsel spend decades as such at my firm too.

As someone who also likes to shit on folks for using anon for almost literally every post, I +1 this. Wish the mods were more diligent with de-anoning.

As for Skadden, Counsel is basically a non-equity partner position, and you'll see a lot of folks sit at Counsel for 2-3 years and get promoted to Partner (Skadden is a single tiered partnership).

[Anonymous User]

No retention bonuses so far. Counsel scale was also increased to:

1st year: $385k
2nd year: $395k
3rd year+: $405k

Just so we're clear on this, does this mean

Class of 2012: 385k base
Class of 2011: 395k base
Class of 2010: 405k base

?

Not sure how the associate vs. counsel progression works at Skadden.

Also the email says only associates in good standing get the salary increase. At Skadden that means annualizing 1800. If someone is annualizing 1750, are they therefore still on the old scale?

Re-upping this so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Can someone from Skadden in the know confirm any of this? Does 1st year counsel = Class of 2012 (385)? 2nd year counsel = Class of 2011 (395)? 3rd year counsel = Class of 2010 (405)? This matters for more senior attorneys here so we can make sure our firms are being market competitive.

When you make Counsel, you move to the Counsel Scale. It doesn’t matter what year you entered the firm, when you make Counsel you are on the 1st year Counsel scale. Each June 1st you get promoted to the next Counsel year.

Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?

The amount of people using anonymous feature to ask innocent shit (like but not limited to the post I'm quoting) or make silly remarks that have no personally identifiable information (unlike the post I'm quoting) is mind-boggling. Are people literally afraid to have an opinion?

To answer the question about whether counsel is a dead-end, there is no universal answer. Some firms promote counsel to partner. My V10 does. But some counsel spend decades as such at my firm too.

I'm specifically asking about Skadden because it will matter for assessing another V10's market competitiveness when they respond to the scale increase. Don't need a generic take on the of counsel role in biglaw looking for the specific info to compare.

[Anonymous User]

Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?

The amount of people using anonymous feature to ask innocent shit (like but not limited to the post I'm quoting) or make silly remarks that have no personally identifiable information (unlike the post I'm quoting) is mind-boggling. Are people literally afraid to have an opinion?

To answer the question about whether counsel is a dead-end, there is no universal answer. Some firms promote counsel to partner. My V10 does. But some counsel spend decades as such at my firm too.

As someone who also likes to shit on folks for using anon for almost literally every post, I +1 this. Wish the mods were more diligent with de-anoning.

As for Skadden, Counsel is basically a non-equity partner position, and you'll see a lot of folks sit at Counsel for 2-3 years and get promoted to Partner (Skadden is a single tiered partnership).

Thanks. This is helpful.

On the anon commentary, as someone who has shared inside info here before and will do so more during comp. wars / bonus rounds, being able to generally participate in a discussion anonymously when it relates to comp / promotion / strategy / marketing topics is a big relief. If the mods started scrutinizing every post against some specific anon standard and I was at risk of getting de-anoned I'd nope out of here. People need to chill and just let this happen this is one of TLS' great features.

[Sackboy]

The classic "at some point regulation could go too far so let's not regulate it at all".

[Anonymous User]

The classic "at some point regulation could go too far so let's not regulate it at all".

More like "during crazy comp war / bonus round periods when we're all talking about sensitive stuff generally, slide and let do to encourage maximum participation and info-sharing, please." I acknowledge there's a downside--overuse of anon--but the upside is worth it IMO during special periods like this. That's my last on this don't want to derail thread.

[1styearlateral]

Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?

The amount of people using anonymous feature to ask innocent shit (like but not limited to the post I'm quoting) or make silly remarks that have no personally identifiable information (unlike the post I'm quoting) is mind-boggling. Are people literally afraid to have an opinion?

To answer the question about whether counsel is a dead-end, there is no universal answer. Some firms promote counsel to partner. My V10 does. But some counsel spend decades as such at my firm too.

As someone who also likes to shit on folks for using anon for almost literally every post, I +1 this. Wish the mods were more diligent with de-anoning.

As for Skadden, Counsel is basically a non-equity partner position, and you'll see a lot of folks sit at Counsel for 2-3 years and get promoted to Partner (Skadden is a single tiered partnership).

On the anon commentary, as someone who has shared inside info here before and will do so more during comp. wars / bonus rounds, being able to generally participate in a discussion anonymously when it relates to comp / promotion / strategy / marketing topics is a big relief.

Right, because the public would be able to uncover your true identity based on an abstract username.

[TigerIsBack]

Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?

The amount of people using anonymous feature to ask innocent shit (like but not limited to the post I'm quoting) or make silly remarks that have no personally identifiable information (unlike the post I'm quoting) is mind-boggling. Are people literally afraid to have an opinion?

To answer the question about whether counsel is a dead-end, there is no universal answer. Some firms promote counsel to partner. My V10 does. But some counsel spend decades as such at my firm too.

As someone who also likes to shit on folks for using anon for almost literally every post, I +1 this. Wish the mods were more diligent with de-anoning.

As for Skadden, Counsel is basically a non-equity partner position, and you'll see a lot of folks sit at Counsel for 2-3 years and get promoted to Partner (Skadden is a single tiered partnership).

On the anon commentary, as someone who has shared inside info here before and will do so more during comp. wars / bonus rounds, being able to generally participate in a discussion anonymously when it relates to comp / promotion / strategy / marketing topics is a big relief.

Right, because the public would be able to uncover your true identity based on an abstract username.

I believe there was a time not too long ago when mods were overusing the ability to out anon posters and I for one was outed when I had shared something about my job search or something else sensitive (I forget exactly what) and there was a lot of uproar for unnecessarily outing posts that clearly should've been left anon.

If you look at someone's post history (which shows every non-anon post they've ever made), it's not always super difficult to figure out who someone is by aggregating all of the slightly identifying info.

Just my $0.02. As long as you're not trolling, bullying, harassing or saying other inappropriate things, what does it matter to me if someone asks a frivolous question anonymously in a comp discussion?

[spyke123]

Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?

The amount of people using anonymous feature to ask innocent shit (like but not limited to the post I'm quoting) or make silly remarks that have no personally identifiable information (unlike the post I'm quoting) is mind-boggling. Are people literally afraid to have an opinion?

To answer the question about whether counsel is a dead-end, there is no universal answer. Some firms promote counsel to partner. My V10 does. But some counsel spend decades as such at my firm too.

As someone who also likes to shit on folks for using anon for almost literally every post, I +1 this. Wish the mods were more diligent with de-anoning.

As for Skadden, Counsel is basically a non-equity partner position, and you'll see a lot of folks sit at Counsel for 2-3 years and get promoted to Partner (Skadden is a single tiered partnership).

On the anon commentary, as someone who has shared inside info here before and will do so more during comp. wars / bonus rounds, being able to generally participate in a discussion anonymously when it relates to comp / promotion / strategy / marketing topics is a big relief.

Right, because the public would be able to uncover your true identity based on an abstract username.

I think it is more that the public maybe able to identify a poster based on his/her post history... not based on his/her username, at least there is a fear that that is a possibility whether real or not.

I don't really get why certain users seem to obsess over the anon "abuse". People shouldn't hide behind anonymity to harass others/troll and otherwise be obnoxious but I don't see how asking legit questions (however silly) or sharing info (whether they are objectively identifiable or not) are considered an abuse of the anon feature. Feels like more harm than good would be done to de-anon those.

[LBJ's Hair]

I like when people use their usernames -- gives people an identity, sorta nice getting to "know" (virtually) regular posters, like Sackboy etc.

But I got outed once when a mod de-anoned something, had to message em to delete stuff. Had a weirdo comb through a bunch of my old posts trying to piece together my identity. it's a drag

anyway, K&E to $250K?

[thisismytlsuername]

I like when people use their usernames -- gives people an identity, sorta nice getting to "know" (virtually) regular posters, like Sackboy etc.

But I got outed once when a mod de-anoned something, had to message em to delete stuff. Had a weirdo comb through a bunch of my old posts trying to piece together my identity.

it's a drag

Yes, but the point of this sidebar discussion is that a post like

"Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?"

contains literally no identifying information whatsoever and therefore should not be anonymous.

[TigerIsBack]

I like when people use their usernames -- gives people an identity, sorta nice getting to "know" (virtually) regular posters, like Sackboy etc.

But I got outed once when a mod de-anoned something, had to message em to delete stuff. Had a weirdo comb through a bunch of my old posts trying to piece together my identity.

it's a drag

Yes, but the point of this sidebar discussion is that a post like

"Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?"

contains literally no identifying information whatsoever and therefore should not be anonymous.

But I think also the point being made by people like me above is ultimately who cares? This is just yours and others' personal preference for people to not use the anon feature here.

I think there is some identifying information because maybe I'm conflating anons, but I thought this person also said they were curious specifically because they thought it would affect comp for seniors at other V10s, which suggests they are in fact a senior associate at a V10....and then if there's a post history of their interest in a certain unique type of book and they mentioned in a separate post about lateralling from NY to CA, etc. it becomes easier to figure out who that person is if it happens to be a colleague of yours.

[Anonymous User]

I like when people use their usernames -- gives people an identity, sorta nice getting to "know" (virtually) regular posters, like Sackboy etc.

But I got outed once when a mod de-anoned something, had to message em to delete stuff. Had a weirdo comb through a bunch of my old posts trying to piece together my identity.

it's a drag

Yes, but the point of this sidebar discussion is that a post like

"Is counsel viewed as a potential stepping stone to equity partnership (equivalent of a Kirkland non-share partner) or is it viewed as a side-track / off-ramp for those who are no longer in the running for equity?"

contains literally no identifying information whatsoever and therefore should not be anonymous.

But I think also the point being made by people like me above is ultimately who cares? This is just yours and others' personal preference for people to not use the anon feature here.

I think there is some identifying information because maybe I'm conflating anons, but I thought this person also said they were curious specifically because they thought it would affect comp for seniors at other V10s, which suggests they are in fact a senior associate at a V10....and then if there's a post history of their interest in a certain unique type of book and they mentioned in a separate post about lateralling from NY to CA, etc. it becomes easier to figure out who that person is if it happens to be a colleague of yours.

This is exactly it. My post literally references "Kirkland non-share" as a point of comparison vs. Skadden. It doesn't have "no identifying information" especially when it becomes part of my user name post history. Come on people ease up we don't need the anon police out in force right now the point of TLS at times like this is to encourage the aggregation of industry information in a way that benefits everyone.

[Anonymous User]

The weirdest guy in my law school class had an Excel sheet that he had assembled, by combing through our "XYZ Law Class of 20XX" thread, of everyone's TLS username associated with their real name. So I will post anon in perpetuity and welcome the forum's newly relaxed approach toward letting us do whatever we want with identifying ourselves.

[thisismytlsuername]

Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.

It's right on the top of the page.

In what world is asking if Skadden counsel is equivalent to a Kirkland non-share "sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc."?