Reply to Big law equity partner salary

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "Big law equity partner salary "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I was a partner for about a decade in a DC firm that most everyone would include on a short list of "elite" DC firms before retiring early a few years ago.  When I made partner my gross compensation for the first year was $450k.  I'd guess that we'd be talking about $600k for a first year partner at my firm today.  Over the last decade the spread between compensation paid to senior partners -- and more specifically, to top rainmakers -- and new partners has increased dramatically as the big firms compete harder and harder to retain their top talent.  The competition is fierce, truly fierce, and the top DC firms simply don't have the money to pay the big guns what they're (perceived to be) worth while at the same time raising junior partner compensation just as dramatically.  The firms are also walking further and further away from lock step compensation based strictly on seniority.  If you're a biglaw partner in DC in your 40s and 50s, let's say, you're definitely making very good money, but the range in compensation between you and your contemporaries might range to as wide as 3 or 4 to one depending on your book of business.  Your billable hours are far less important than your portable business.  This wasn't the case in DC firms a decade or two ago, but it definitely is now.  The law business has changed -- in my personal opinion not for the better.

Also, while I know this has been said before, a junior partner quite often will find herself/himself bringing home less money than a senior associate.  All employee benefits -- health and other insurance, social security/medicare tax payments, etc. -- are all the sole responsibility of the partner, not to mention mandatory capital contributions that you can either borrow to pay or that the firm will withhold from your compensation but you will STILL be taxed on.  In my case, for example, the firm withheld nearly $1 million of compensation over the years for capital contributions, all of which I paid federal and state taxes on but never saw until I left the firm.  On the bright side, because I had already paid taxes on this money, when I left the firm it was returned to me tax free.

The bottom line is that, while there is no question that junior partners in elite DC firms are handsomely compensated, the numbers are complicated and the business is changing.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics