Starting Salary at a Small (5-attorney) Manhattan Firm Forum

[downpour1]

This is a tough (perhaps impossible) question to answer, but I'm hoping that someone will nonetheless be able to offer me some useful information.

In short, I'm a 2L who has accepted a summer internship at a small, 5-attorney firm in Manhattan that does general corporate/IP work for small to mid-market companies (some are very well-known). The firm has a solid client base, a nice office and is growing at a healthy pace, adding a new attorney every couple of years or so. The firm pays interns $16/hour and does not typically hire interns full-time. That said, I am the only summer this year, have a very unique background that is incredibly well-suited for this firm and like my chances of being hired full-time. I don't wish to say any more, but trust me when I say that it would be difficult for the firm to find someone who is a better fit than I am.

Given that there is no promise of employment following my 3L year, I will clearly be networking like crazy this summer. However, I'm still curious to know what my starting salary would be if I did get a job at this firm. If I had to guess, I would say between 50k on the low-end and 90k on the high-end, with 60k being the most likely...but this is really just speculation.

All thoughts are welcomed and highly appreciated!

Thanks!

[seespotrun]

It really is impossible to know for sure, but I agree that the range is likely 50K-90K with the most probable figure being somewhere at the lower end of that range. If the firm truly has a good book of business like you say, it sounds like a good opportunity to get in at the ground floor of a growing practice. Best of luck to you.

[downpour1]

Thanks a lot seespotrun. I appreciate the reply.

[reasonable_man]

This is a tough (perhaps impossible) question to answer, but I'm hoping that someone will nonetheless be able to offer me some useful information.

In short, I'm a 2L who has accepted a summer internship at a small, 5-attorney firm in Manhattan that does general corporate/IP work for small to mid-market companies (some are very well-known). The firm has a solid client base, a nice office and is growing at a healthy pace, adding a new attorney every couple of years or so. The firm pays interns $16/hour and does not typically hire interns full-time. That said, I am the only summer this year, have a very unique background that is incredibly well-suited for this firm and like my chances of being hired full-time. I don't wish to say any more, but trust me when I say that it would be difficult for the firm to find someone who is a better fit than I am.

Given that there is no promise of employment following my 3L year, I will clearly be networking like crazy this summer. However, I'm still curious to know what my starting salary would be if I did get a job at this firm. If I had to guess, I would say between 50k on the low-end and 90k on the high-end, with 60k being the most likely...but this is really just speculation.

All thoughts are welcomed and highly appreciated!

Thanks!

You are actually pretty much on the money.