Ever since Milbank announced its latest series of salary raises, the legal world has been on edge. It’s already been over a week, yet no other firm has announced any similar step to match or compete with Milbank’s decision. To add further intrigue to the story, these raises are being more appropriately described as cost of living adjustments rather than salary hikes.
At the same time of this tectonic financial shift, Cravath also made a bold move in a different sphere. The firm has elected to move away from the long-standing one-tier partnership model that has been a staple of the industry. Indeed, Cravath has ushered in income partnerships, showing perhaps another pivotal change in the law industry’s standard operation procedure.
The legal profession is not immune to controversies and the latest one making headlines involves Nixon Peabody’s alleged attempt to bring Donald Trump on board as a client. This move has led to internal tumult and calls for a substantial leadership change within the firm.
The upheavals in salary structure, changes to traditional business models, and ethical dilemmas make for a particularly eventful period in the legal industry, born not only out of financial exigency, but an evolution of values and ethics.