Small/Mid-size Law Firm Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone know what the competitive market pay for compensation is in a small/mid-size firm (about 80-100) in D.C.?

I don't want to ask yet. All they've said on their website is a competitive "summer associate salary."

Edit: I am a 1L

[Anonymous User]

This won't be much help, but it means whatever the firm wants it to mean. Could be $60k. Could be $115k. Nobody here is going to be able to pinpoint it for you unless they know someone who works there.

[ZyzzBrah]

80-100 is small to mid sized?

[sometimesIwonder]

im wondering the SAME thing.

[Anonymous User]

80-100 is small to mid sized?

Well I figured it might be in the D.C. market, but I know very little about the distinctions between the two.

If anyone has been hired to a midlaw firm in D.C. as a summer, could you possibly speak to your compensation? I'm assuming it's going to be less than a summer associate pay at a large firm (1k-3k/wk)?

Also, would it be a bad idea to ask this even after obtaining the position?

[ZyzzBrah]

OP, fwiw I worked at a 30-40 person firm about a mile from the d.c. line and made ~1k/week


I wouldn't be surprised if a 80-100 person firm paid more (i.e. 1,500). I also wouldn't be surprised if they paid less though either (i.e. 800).

Also, I asked what the pay was when I was offered the summer position.

[dood]

$2100

[pennpennpenn]

depends on the firm and what they do. some DC boutiques in that size range pay market.

[patrickd139]

Tax boutiques like IPB and CapDale pay market or close to it. Some lit boutiques that hire 1-2 YHS grads seemingly selected at random pay market or more.

General business law firms that size (to the extent they even have a summer associate program) pay significantly less, and fall within a range that is going to be impossible to predict based on your vague criteria.

Basically, it'll vary widely from firm to firm. If they're offering to pay anything close to what the biglaw firms are paying, take the money as a 1L, slap "summer associate" on your resume for 2L OCI, and run.

[Anonymous User]

OP, fwiw I worked at a 30-40 person firm about a mile from the d.c. line and made ~1k/week


I wouldn't be surprised if a 80-100 person firm paid more (i.e. 1,500). I also wouldn't be surprised if they paid less though either (i.e. 800).

Also, I asked what the pay was when I was offered the summer position.

If you accepted a full time offer, was your weekly pay a pro-rated salary?

[Dafaq]

Your SA weekly salary is the same as your first year weekly associate salary. If anyone knows of or else had a different experience, let ‘er rip. . .

[ZyzzBrah]

If you accepted a full time offer, was your weekly pay a pro-rated salary?

Firm doesn't make offers to its summer clerks--generally only hired either laterals or clerks. BUT, that was not the prorated salary. Starting was somewhere around 80,000-90,000.


^^ if you're hired as an SA, you're usually given a prorated salary. However, if you are hired as a clerk, you generally make less. Also, just because a firm says you're an SA, doesn't mean that your a summer associate in the biglaw sense (i.e. being considered for a job, etc), some places just call it that.