National Jurist - October 2008 - (Page 12) THEFIRMREPORT Summer hiring down from previous year Future looks grim for 2008 hires This past summer saw a decline in summer associate hires. This is in comparison to the record-breaking hiring of 2007. According to the National Association for Law Placement, 56 percent of the 120 law schools that provided on-campus interviewing information reported an increase of 5 percent or more in the number of employers participating in 2007. Many blame this year’s cutback on the slowing economy. According to statistics compiled by The National Law Journal, Kirkland & Ellis saw a 17 percent decline in summer associate hiring — from 229 in 2007 to 190 in 2008. According to the ABA Journal, many big law firms are finding themselves in a bind. “As the economic downturn has cut into legal work, the firms are pledged to hire more lawyers than they need,” the Journal stated. Some smaller firms are ditching their summer associate programs and some larger firms are questioning whether they are the best way to hire, according to a Wall Street Journal article. And just as on-campus recruiting is ending, many are curious about exactly how many will be hired for the fall of 2009. Salaries at largest firms up again According to the 2008 Associate Salary Survey released by the National Association for Law Placement, the median first-year associate salary at firms rose to $160,000 this year, an increase of $15,000 in just one year. This jump continues a pattern of increases that started in early 2006, and contrasts with a period of relative stability from 2000 to 2005. At small firms of 25 or fewer lawyers, the median was $73,000, compared with $68,000 in 2007. The median starting salary for firms of all sizes was $120,000 — up considerably from the 2007 median of $113,000, according to NALP. The prevailing salary in the largest firms rose to $160,000 in a number of cities including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay and Washington, D.C. In New York, the prevailing salary had reached $160,000 a year earlier. Best law firm to work for Vault.com, Inc., named Clear y, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton as the best law firm to work for in the nation. It’s the first time the firm has garnered the top spot on Vault’s annual ranking. More than 18,800 law firm associates took part in the latest annual Law Firm Associate Survey, conducted from January through April of this year. Associates rated their firms on various quality of life issues including associate/partner relations, compensation, hours, offices and overall satisfaction. To determine the best 20 firms to work for, Vault’s law editors used a formula that weighted the most relevant categories for an overall quality of life ranking. Median base salaries Associate Year 701+ First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth $160,000 $170,000 $180,000 $195,825 $210,625 $227,500 $238,750 $230,000 Vault’s Quality of Life law firms Category Best to Work for Associate/Partner Relations Compensation Formal Training Hours Information Training Offices (tie) Firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton (NY) Williams & Connolly (DC) Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (NY) Kirkland & Ellis (Chicago) Cozen O'Connor (PA) Goulston & Storrs (Boston) Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton (NY) Thacher, Profitt & Wood (NY) Overall Satisfaction Pro Bono Selectivity Williams & Connolly (DC) Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler (NY) Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (NY) Summer Associate $3,075/week (first, second, third) Source: NALP - data available as of April 1, 2008 12 THE NATIONAL JURIST October 2008 http://www.nalp.org http://www.Vault.com
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