Top Law Schools

Hi TLS,

Sorry for the anon...I've searched in vain and asked around for a w&c salary scale, but to no avail. Nobody seems to know (or those who do know are very tight-lipped). I know it starts at 180k, but after that it is not clear how it steps up (except that there seems to be a consensus that there are no bonuses).

Does ANYONE have any info on how the scale steps up for the first several years?
What about a D.Ct clerkship bonus? CoA bonus? Both combined?

Any info would be very helpful. Thanks so much in advance!

This was literally the first result on Google when I typed in "Williams and Connolly salary scale"

http://abovethelaw.com/2007/12/nationwi ... y-to-180k/

[Anon b/c working there/snarky]

No bonus must suck doe.

$175,000
$195,000
$235,000
$275,000
$310,000
$340,000
$365,000
$380,000

vs.

1st: $180,000
2nd: $195,000
3rd: $210,000
4th: $230,000
5th: $250,000
6th: $270,000
7th: $290,000

so they get paid a lot less actually? Weird

You can't put a price on preftige

Some anon claiming to be an associate on their comp committee posted her in the bonus thread I think claiming they are likely to jack up the salary scale in response to NY bonuses being (much) higher this year. Take that for what you will.

I'm considering ending up in DC - does anyone know if most DC firms are even matching the NY bonus scale anyways?

op here.

In response to [snarky / working there]...yes, I've seen that. But that was 2007 and "not 100% certain," and I thought there were rumblings that it had changed. It seems bizarre that they would pay significantly less to 3rd/4th years as compared to peer firms (and makes me wonder why it is such a sought after firm). I am anon because I am going to start there soon, and I am hoping they bump it up to at least be commensurate with peers.

Thanks for any other info!

Lots of litigation-only firms go below market at the senior levels. As a general matter, litigation is less profitable than corporate work, and particularly so at lightly-leveraged litigation boutiques. (The exception to this rule is firms that take on plaintiff work or have alternative fee arrangements.)

911 crisis actor wrote:You can't put a price on preftige

And that "Unlimited Vacation Time" that you take when you need it. Turns out I probably don't need it that much. And the free lunch? That totally is worth something.

I had a friend who dated an associate at Williams and Connolly. She said that she ended up having a lot of dates in their cafeteria, and that they had good tiramisu.

I have no particular insight but would be surprised if a hyper-profitable extremely well-known firm that clocks in near the top of the Vault compensation rankings has been secretly low-balling associates for over a half decade without word leaking...

Anonymous User wrote:I have no particular insight but would be surprised if a hyper-profitable extremely well-known firm that clocks in near the top of the Vault compensation rankings has been secretly low-balling associates for over a half decade without word leaking...

It's not "hyper-profitable." Its PPP isn't half of the average firm paying DPW bonuses. And the scale wasn't much of a lowball on the 2009-13 bonus scales. Only on these bonuses are mid-levels making significantly less.

Desert Fox wrote:No bonus must suck doe.

$175,000
$195,000
$235,000
$275,000
$310,000
$340,000
$365,000
$380,000

vs.

1st: $180,000
2nd: $195,000
3rd: $210,000
4th: $230,000
5th: $250,000
6th: $270,000
7th: $290,000

Although, salaries are guaranteed (to the extent you're able to keep your job), whereas bonuses are not. If the economy tanks again, those bonuses will get hacked hard, and W&C associates will probably be making more. W&C salaries were pretty comparable/slightly higher than NYC salaries + bonuses until this past year (since firms really jacked up their bonuses relative to recent years).

XxSpyKEx wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:No bonus must suck doe.

$175,000
$195,000
$235,000
$275,000
$310,000
$340,000
$365,000
$380,000

vs.

1st: $180,000
2nd: $195,000
3rd: $210,000
4th: $230,000
5th: $250,000
6th: $270,000
7th: $290,000

Although, salaries are guaranteed (to the extent you're able to keep your job), whereas bonuses are not. If the economy tanks again, those bonuses will get hacked hard, and W&C associates will probably be making more. W&C salaries were pretty comparable/slightly higher than NYC salaries + bonuses until this past year (since firms really jacked up their bonuses relative to recent years).

Even during shitty bonuses W&C midlevels were making less.

Anonymous User wrote: What about a D.Ct clerkship bonus? CoA bonus? Both combined?
!

Last year one clerkship (district court or appellate) got $50k bonus and two clerkships got $75k bonus (at least for non-SCOTUS clerkships; not sure if they got more).

Salary scale is as posted above.

imnottelling wrote:

911 crisis actor wrote:You can't put a price on preftige

And that "Unlimited Vacation Time" that you take when you need it. Turns out I probably don't need it that much. And the free lunch? That totally is worth something.

I had a friend who dated an associate at Williams and Connolly. She said that she ended up having a lot of dates in their cafeteria, and that they had good tiramisu.

Does W&C really have "unlimited vacation time" for associates? How does that work since I thought they also didn't have a billable hours requirement?

bearsfan23 wrote:

imnottelling wrote:

911 crisis actor wrote:You can't put a price on preftige

And that "Unlimited Vacation Time" that you take when you need it. Turns out I probably don't need it that much. And the free lunch? That totally is worth something.

I had a friend who dated an associate at Williams and Connolly. She said that she ended up having a lot of dates in their cafeteria, and that they had good tiramisu.

Does W&C really have "unlimited vacation time" for associates? How does that work since I thought they also didn't have a billable hours requirement?

They also reimburse you for travel plans that you have to cancel for work. So that's pretty sweet.

kcdc1 wrote:

bearsfan23 wrote:

imnottelling wrote:

911 crisis actor wrote:You can't put a price on preftige

And that "Unlimited Vacation Time" that you take when you need it. Turns out I probably don't need it that much. And the free lunch? That totally is worth something.

I had a friend who dated an associate at Williams and Connolly. She said that she ended up having a lot of dates in their cafeteria, and that they had good tiramisu.

Does W&C really have "unlimited vacation time" for associates? How does that work since I thought they also didn't have a billable hours requirement?

They also reimburse you for travel plans that you have to cancel for work. So that's pretty sweet.

wait, I thought this type of reimbursement was commonplace at all firms...am I wrong in thinking this?

W&C ominously mentions it as a benefit. Doesn't have to be a bad sign. But it strikes me as ominous.

nickelanddime wrote:Lots of litigation-only firms go below market at the senior levels. As a general matter, litigation is less profitable than corporate work, and particularly so at lightly-leveraged litigation boutiques. (The exception to this rule is firms that take on plaintiff work or have alternative fee arrangements.)

Yep. W&C, MTO, KVN, and Bartlit Beck all pay below market for senior associates. There are good reasons to pick such firms over big law, but compensation isn't one of them.

rpupkin wrote:

nickelanddime wrote:Lots of litigation-only firms go below market at the senior levels. As a general matter, litigation is less profitable than corporate work, and particularly so at lightly-leveraged litigation boutiques. (The exception to this rule is firms that take on plaintiff work or have alternative fee arrangements.)

Yep. W&C, MTO, KVN, and Bartlit Beck all pay below market for senior associates. There are good reasons to pick such firms over big law, but compensation isn't one of them.

Is this true of the Texas based boutiques too?

nothingtosee wrote:

rpupkin wrote:

nickelanddime wrote:Lots of litigation-only firms go below market at the senior levels. As a general matter, litigation is less profitable than corporate work, and particularly so at lightly-leveraged litigation boutiques. (The exception to this rule is firms that take on plaintiff work or have alternative fee arrangements.)

Yep. W&C, MTO, KVN, and Bartlit Beck all pay below market for senior associates. There are good reasons to pick such firms over big law, but compensation isn't one of them.

Is this true of the Texas based boutiques too?

I don't know—there are a lot of boutiques in Texas. But if you're asking specifically about Sussman and McKool, the answer is no: it's not true of them. Their compensation is higher because, as nickelanddime indicated, those firms do plaintiff work and have alternative fee arrangements. Also, I have the sense that those firms work their associates harder than the defense-oriented boutiques. None of the boutiques referenced ITT are lifestyle firms, but of my friends who work in boutiques, I hear more "all I do is work" stories out of the Sussman/McKool crowd.