Any word on Iowa law firm salary increases? Forum

[Anonymous User]

The UC Hastings person mentioned above did not go to the firm straight from law school but is a recent hire bringing a few years of experience. Very hardworking, smart & fantastic networker.

Can't stop laughing at the "Piglaw" reference, gets my vote for best Iowa terminology for sure!

Nyemaster is a really great firm to work at, from personal experience. One of the other firms mentioned not so much, a friend atty was trying to escape after only a few months due to the work environment but because Piglaw is a small world, it took forever to find a different job without a steep pay cut. Btw, Iowa's cost of living is much lower and $100K+ there feels like a lot more, especially when/if you become a homeowner.

Companies do ship work to Iowa, as a paralegal there I worked on cases from several jurisdictions while out-of-state offices were closed and consolidated with those in Iowa, which gobbled up the work.

[Anonymous User]

Any updates on this? Belin has hiked its starting salary to $150k and is definitely hiring first-year associates again (just took one from Northwestern).

[Anonymous User]

Faegre Baker Daniels starts at $115k in Des Moines.

[Anonymous User]

Two more data points: Simmons Perrine in Cedar Rapids starts at $90,000, Nyemaster Goode starts at $95,000.

[Anonymous User]

Two more data points: Simmons Perrine in Cedar Rapids starts at $90,000, Nyemaster Goode starts at $95,000.

The rumor is that Nyemaster will bump to $100k after the pandemic is over, matching Davis Brown. Faegre is still at $115k post-merger but its hours minimum probably increased with the rest of the firm. I think BrownWinick is also in the vicinity of $100k.

[Anonymous User]

Of firms with more than just a few attorneys (i.e. excluding Weinhardt), is Faegre the best-paying firm not named Belin? Then the other big Des Moines players are sort of all together? Any insight appreciated if my understanding is wrong.

[Anonymous User]

Of firms with more than just a few attorneys (i.e. excluding Weinhardt), is Faegre the best-paying firm not named Belin? Then the other big Des Moines players are sort of all together? Any insight appreciated if my understanding is wrong.

Yes, that's my general understanding, though Dorsey and/or Fredrikson may also be above $100k. The former matches Faegre in Minneapolis and may do so in Iowa as well.

It's worth noting that Faegre Des Moines (a) is pretty unique in the market in its practice areas (very litigation-heavy, and within litigation very employment- and products liability-heavy) and (b) has very poor partnership prospects and time to partnership versus Nyemaster, Davis, etc., so in the long run the salary boost might not be worth it. It only has two homegrown partners under 50 or so despite being in the market for decades at this point. I'm sure their of counsel are taken care of decently though.

Also now that I read this whole thread, the Belin atty from Hastings was indeed a special case. She made Chambers Band 2 immediately after making partner to give you an idea. Their hires since have been T10 (Chicago, Michigan, Northwestern).

[Anonymous User]

Long shot given the size of the firm and how few associates it has, but does anyone know what Weinhardt pays? Its history and the quality of the people suggest that might match Belin, but its partnership track seems to be longer and its criminal-heavy practice might bill less than Belin's commercial/financial/etc.-heavy lit group.

[Anonymous User]

Dentons is acquiring Davis Brown, which may cause movement on this front. I'm not sure if its prior "combinations' in other markets have led to salary rises. There also might be changes to the partnership track and/or partnership prospects, which are currently good at Davis. It's going to be strange having a biglaw firm with an office in Ames. (Note for anyone considering it that despite the hype in the announcement statement, Davis is fairly clearly the #3 firm after Belin and Nyemaster, not the #1 firm, in Des Moines. This seems like a big deal nonetheless.)

[Anonymous User]

Long shot given the size of the firm and how few associates it has, but does anyone know what Weinhardt pays? Its history and the quality of the people suggest that might match Belin, but its partnership track seems to be longer and its criminal-heavy practice might bill less than Belin's commercial/financial/etc.-heavy lit group.

It's competitive with Belin but structured differently because it's so small. Some of their (discounted) rates are public online due to their history of doing internal investigations for the state if you're curious. I believe they've only considered federal clerks for entry-level hiring and everyone at the firm, even the ones who didn't come directly from Belin at the time of its founding, spent time in biglaw, etc. spent time at Belin at some point, even if just for the summer program.

[Anonymous User]

Faegre Baker Daniels starts at $115k in Des Moines.

Now hiked to $125k per NALP. Faegre cut hard for Covid and idk if associates were made whole though. Also the Dentons merger went through and as part of it it looks like a decent number of Davis's partners were demoted to counsel.

[Anonymous User]

Any ideas on Cedar Rapids? The last I heard, the biggest players there (Simmons, Shuttleworth) started around 90k. Has that gone up? What does compression look like? I realize DSM is likely to have a lot more posters with experience than CR.

[Anonymous User]

Any ideas on Cedar Rapids? The last I heard, the biggest players there (Simmons, Shuttleworth) started around 90k. Has that gone up? What does compression look like? I realize DSM is likely to have a lot more posters with experience than CR.

I don't know exactly, but I'd be very surprised if Simmons and Shuttleworth aren't still in the ballpark of 90-100, which is what Simmons's NALP says. 100 is Des Moines market rn for the major firms minus Belin, Faegre, and Weinhardt. Raises are nowhere near biglaw, if you want to make COL-adjusted NY market your only real option in IA is Belin.

[Anonymous User]

Any update to Whitfield and Eddy’s pay?

[Anonymous User]

Any update to Whitfield and Eddy’s pay?

I don't know but I'd be quite surprised if it pays the $100k local market, it's not one of the top firms

[Anonymous User]

Any raises in light of the biglaw bumps? There's no change on Belin's website, but maybe Faegre will do something and cause a chain reaction? It's a long shot but the movement in Missouri makes me a bit hopeful

[Anonymous User]

https://abovethelaw.com/2021/07/biglaw- ... -so-lucky/

Faegre has raised to 140 starting, a $15k bump, and I believe beats Belin briefly for fourth years before being passed again when Belin gives associates equity at year 4.5. I don't know what Faegre's bonuses are like in small markets and Belin's are relatively low so it might end up being higher than Belin at certain other points, though I believe the gap is too big for bonuses to realistically make up the difference once you get partnership at Belin. But regardless having a second, historically lower-paying, firm in Belin's neighborhood is big news.

It will be very interesting to see if Dorsey and Fredrikson raise in Iowa to match--it looks like Dorsey will bump in MN at least--and to see whether this inspires any movement among the homegrown firms. The hot housing market might also put some pressure on firms because it's eroding the cost of living advantage.

[Anonymous User]

The hot housing market might also put some pressure on firms because it's eroding the cost of living advantage.

My understanding of the data is that housing prices are increasing in the DSM metro at a slower pace than they are in most major metros with biglaw offices. DSM firms should be increasing comp because COL is going up fast everywhere, but it makes more sense now than it did a few years ago to make the NYC/LA/DC to DSM jump if COL is top of mind.

[Anonymous User]

Dorsey now nearly matches Faegre—140 for first years, 145 for second years. It has a much less substantial DSM presence than Faegre though.

[Anonymous User]

Curious if anyone has any updated info on the IA market. I don't think Dorsey or Faegre have raised yet. Fredrikson now has a NALP page, which confirms that it pays 140k, like Dorsey and Faegre. Fredrikson also posted its clerkship bonus ($35k).

Also at least on the litigation side there seems to have been a lot of partner-level movement recently. Nyemaster lost Angel West and Thomas Goodhue to open a new office of Maynard Cooper, Dentons/Davis lost Holly Logan (and with her I assume its whole white-collar practice) to go back to having her own firm, and Belin lost Nola Cartmill to go in-house, Ryan Koopmans to do ???, and Steve Locher to be a federal judge.

[aaroncox7]

Curious if anyone has any updated info on the IA market. I don't think Dorsey or Faegre have raised yet. Fredrikson now has a NALP page, which confirms that it pays 140k, like Dorsey and Faegre. Fredrikson also posted its clerkship bonus ($35k).

Also at least on the litigation side there seems to have been a lot of partner-level movement recently. Nyemaster lost Angel West and Thomas Goodhue to open a new office of Maynard Cooper, Dentons/Davis lost Holly Logan (and with her I assume its whole white-collar practice) to go back to having her own firm, and Belin lost Nola Cartmill to go in-house, Ryan Koopmans to do ???, and Steve Locher to be a federal judge.

I'd be surprised if Faegre raised too much higher than $140K - I know it's not Iowa but the Indianapolis market has settled in around $150k for the bigger firms here.

[Anonymous User]

Fredrikson has been expanding very aggressively--it was a small office just a couple of years ago but is up to 35 lawyers now, basically Faegre-sized, with like seven or eight lateral associates coming on in the last year or two. Idk what partnership prospects will be like there, presumably better than Faegre, but it's up to 1:1 leverage which is high for the market with no signs of slowing down on associate hiring.

In the new Chambers, Belin is down to Band 2 in everything but M&A and T&E--it's about half of the size that it was a decade ago. In real estate, the problem was retirements bringing the group down to two lawyers, but Nate Barber still has a massive book. In litigation, it was losing three partners to the judiciary, which the firm can't really control, and the residual shadow left by the Weinhardt spinoff in 2011. In employment, it's always been Band 2, and that practice still seems like it's in a good place. Most of the partners are still at the top of their respective markets but it's not what it was. Its comp advantage has also eroded significantly with four firms in its ballpark.

[Anonymous User]

According to a new NALP filing, Faegre has raised to 150

[Anonymous User]

According to a new NALP filing, Faegre has raised to 150

Faegre is $150k in Des Moines for entry level associates (higher in other markets; they have starting salaries at or slightly above peer firms in each market).

[Anonymous User]

According to a new NALP filing, Faegre has raised to 150

Faegre is $150k in Des Moines for entry level associates (higher in other markets; they have starting salaries at or slightly above peer firms in each market).

I assume Belin will raise before long, in line with its general practice of being above the top of the market, as it hasn't raised recently despite increasing local rates.