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Does anyone have some anecdotal evidence on how much the smaller firms in the Twin Cities market pays?

I know the top firms will pay $110,000 to first year associates, but I cannot seem to confirm salaries for the firms that have around 20-50 attorneys.

I think, particularly for smaller firms, the Robert Half Legal Salary Guide (LinkRemoved) is a good resource. I know it's what my summer firm used to set associate salaries, and it's something that you could use in negotiations if you're given a low offer.

The guide breaks it down based on experience level and law firm size and then provides multipliers for different cities.

A small/midsize firm is 10-35 attorneys, and a midsize firm is 35-75 attorneys.
Minneapolis and St. Paul actually have different multipliers. Minneapolis is 105.5% and St. Paul is 102%.

To give you a rough idea of the ranges, I'll multiply the lower end of the range by the St. Paul multiplier and the higher by the Minneapolis multiplier.
So, for a First Year associate in the twin cities, the salaries (rounded to the nearest dollar) should be:

small/midsize firm: $62,220 to $90,994 ((102% x $61k) to (105.5% x $86,250))
midsize firm: $79,815 to $112,621 ((102% x $78,250) to (105.5% x $106,750))

Anywhere from 30k to market pay for the big firms. It really depends on the firm and what kind of work you'll be doing there.

If you're just going to file default judgments for some mill, you're at the low end. On the other hand, I know of a midsize firm (17 attorneys, which is midsize for MN) that pays 90k to first years.

minnbills wrote:Anywhere from 30k to market pay for the big firms. It really depends on the firm and what kind of work you'll be doing there.

If you're just going to file default judgments for some mill, you're at the low end. On the other hand, I know of a midsize firm (17 attorneys, which is midsize for MN) that pays 90k to first years.

Got it, thanks.

There are some mid-size firms (20-30 attorneys) that do a lot of defense work. When the firm does more defense work, is it okay to assume that pay will be on the higher end of the scale?

Anonymous User wrote:

minnbills wrote:Anywhere from 30k to market pay for the big firms. It really depends on the firm and what kind of work you'll be doing there.

If you're just going to file default judgments for some mill, you're at the low end. On the other hand, I know of a midsize firm (17 attorneys, which is midsize for MN) that pays 90k to first years.

Got it, thanks.

There are some mid-size firms (20-30 attorneys) that do a lot of defense work. When the firm does more defense work, is it okay to assume that pay will be on the higher end of the scale?

NP, I think that's a safe bet too.

Bump. Interviewing with a small (5-10) attorney firm soon, and I'd like to have a better idea of how to answer questions re: expected/required salaries.

I think I remember getting information from my law school (in the area) that market base for smaller firms in the Twin Cities is around 60-65k. I would imagine it depends heavily on the type of practice though.