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Hi everyone, I'm currently a tech trans associate at one of the major biglaw shops in the Bay Area. I'll likely start looking at in house positions in 2020 as a mid level associate with three/four years under my belt. With a large amount of debt between my spouse and myself, along with kids, I was looking for some data points on what I can expect to make if I go in house (cash + equity), specifically at places like Google, Facebook, etc. I've checked online and relevant posts here on TLS, but was hoping for some idea on associate commercial/counsel roles, which would align with my experience at my current firm. Thanks!

decent thread on this here (and elsewhere if you use search function...): http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... #p10406963

I just had a conversation with a recruiter from one of the FAANG companies in the Bay Area. For a counsel position, the starting salary was $225k+, with 25% bonus and an initial equity grant of $300k+ vesting over 4 years.

It sounded like a lot to me until I put my current salary in a mid-sized city into a cost-of-living calculator. I would have to make almost $600K in Silicon Valley to equal my salary right now, mostly because housing is so insanely expensive there.

mariamacapa wrote:I just had a conversation with a recruiter from one of the FAANG companies in the Bay Area. For a counsel position, the starting salary was $225k+, with 25% bonus and an initial equity grant of $300k+ vesting over 4 years.

It sounded like a lot to me until I put my current salary in a mid-sized city into a cost-of-living calculator. I would have to make almost $600K in Silicon Valley to equal my salary right now, mostly because housing is so insanely expensive there.

Agreed. Anyone coming from any other city outside of nyc (or maybe la) should factor in a 50-100% increase in COL before they move to the bay area.

dabigchina wrote:

mariamacapa wrote:I just had a conversation with a recruiter from one of the FAANG companies in the Bay Area. For a counsel position, the starting salary was $225k+, with 25% bonus and an initial equity grant of $300k+ vesting over 4 years.

It sounded like a lot to me until I put my current salary in a mid-sized city into a cost-of-living calculator. I would have to make almost $600K in Silicon Valley to equal my salary right now, mostly because housing is so insanely expensive there.

Agreed. Anyone coming from any other city outside of nyc (or maybe la) should factor in a 50-100% increase in COL before they move to the bay area.

Yeah, and I find Silicon Valley extremely bland/soulless too (I live in San Jose). I previously lived in LA for less than San Jose and enjoyed myself much more. Looking to move back.

"To qualify for low-income housing in San Francisco County or the nearby San Mateo and Marin counties, a four-person household can make as much as $117,400 a year" (https://www.businessinsider.com/san-fra ... ing-2018-6).

LOL.

Assuming the above-cited ~$350k total comp ($225k+, with 25% bonus and an initial equity grant of $300k+ vesting over 4 years), that would put you squarely in the middle class range of SV.

For a single person w/ no independent sources of wealth (but assuming enough liquid savings for a down payment), at that income he/she would be barred from living in SV itself and would have to settle for a modest three-bedroom townhouse in San Jose or the East Bay.

Extreme income inequality is a bitch.

Neff wrote:"To qualify for low-income housing in San Francisco County or the nearby San Mateo and Marin counties, a four-person household can make as much as $117,400 a year" (https://www.businessinsider.com/san-fra ... ing-2018-6).

LOL.

Assuming the above-cited ~$350k total comp ($225k+, with 25% bonus and an initial equity grant of $300k+ vesting over 4 years), that would put you squarely in the middle class range of SV.

For a single person w/ no independent sources of wealth (but assuming enough liquid savings for a down payment), at that income he/she would be barred from living in SV itself and would have to settle for a modest three-bedroom townhouse in San Jose or the East Bay.

Extreme income inequality is a bitch.

If you can afford a 3br townhome in the east bay, you are doing pretty well for yourself in the bay area. I know many biglaw juniors and midlevels who still have roommates.

The problem isn't so much income inequality (although that is definitely a huge issue) - It's more that the bay area refuses to build new housing, driving up prices. Furthermore, prop 13 sets property tax valuations at the price you paid for the house with nominal annual increases. This creates a class of people who bought their $2m dollar homes 20 years ago for $200k and pay very little property taxes. If you tried to buy their home from them, you would get hit on the front end with a big mortgage, and on the back end with $20-30k a year in property taxes.