We are already midway through February, yet the wave of salary increases in Biglaw is far from over. The latest firm to announce raises for its associates is Perkins Coie, an organization that garnered gross revenues of around $1,163,764,000 in 2022, cementing its position at #42 in the Am Law 100 standings. The firm has laid out its new compensation scheme, a scale that strikingly resembles the market compensation scale rolled out in late 2023 and is to be retroactively implemented from January 1. The devil, however, is in the details. Details which can be found here.
While the announced raises appear straightforward for junior associates from classes 1-3 who receive them unconditionally, mid-level and senior associates face an important stipulation. To qualify for the raises, these associates must have met a minimum hour requirement from the previous year: a total of 1950 hours. Associates missing the cut-off for a raise could redeem themselves by clocking 2000 hours in the current year (2024), earning them a bonus equivalent to the raise amount they would have otherwise lost out on.
This differentiated approach towards salary raises has sparked some discontent amongst the firm’s workforce. The bone of contention stems from the fact that reaching the hour minimum hasn’t always been a matter of work ethic. A number of associates have reportedly struggled to hit their hours not due to lack of willingness or effort, but rather due to a shortage of work in many offices. As put by an insider, the firm’s latest policy is perceived as pushing those struggling to find enough work towards the exit.
These changes have been outlined in the firm’s full memo which can be viewed here.
The nature of these conditions have left many questioning the spirit of the raises. It adds new weight to the responsibility of associates to meet their hours, and duly poses new challenges to those in practice groups where work, simply put, is scarce.