Fewer law firms paying newcomers top dollar

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Fewer of the biggest law firms with offices in Chicago are paying new associates the top-of-the-market salary than before the recession, according to a survey.

Only 55 percent of firms with offices in the city that employ more than 700 lawyers reported paying new associates salaries of $160,000 as of Jan. 1, compared with 80 percent in 2009, according to the National Association for Law Placement in Washington, D.C. That was the year competition for fresh legal talent caused salaries to peak, with $160,000 widely seen as the high point.

A slightly higher percentage of firms with Los Angeles and Washington offices pay newcomers $160,000, but only in New York do 90 percent of first-year associates rake in that much.

The numbers mirror national trends, which show that the number of big firms paying new associates $160,000 shrank to 39 percent this year from nearly two-thirds six years ago. That does not necessarily represent a decline in individual firms paying less, but rather the creation of more firms with 700-plus lawyers through mergers and acquisitions, according to an association statement.

The weakening demand for lawyers.