National pay-hike trend hits Hartford law firms

HBJ PHOTO | John Stearns Ted Augustinos, managing partner of the Hartford office of Locke Lord LLP, said his law firm boosted associate pay to stay competitive with the market-setting move by Cravath, Swaine & Moore of New York. First-associate pay in Hartford, however, isn't as high as in the firm's largest markets.

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By John Stearns

New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP's decision to raise first- year associate pay to $180,000 (and up to $315,000 for eighth-year associates), has rippled through the law firm universe, including smaller satellite markets like Hartford.

Since Cravath's announcement in June that it was raising the pay of its novice lawyers $20,000, or 12.5 percent (more veteran associates saw pay bumps as high as $35,000, also 12.5 percent), more than 65 top firms followed suit with pay hikes scheduled to take effect July 1, according to Law360 and legal blog Above the Law.

Some Hartford area lawyers at national or international firms saw similar pay hikes, industry insiders say, while small and mid-size firms have been less willing to go along with the increases.

Locke Lord LLP, with an office in Hartford among 23 worldwide, was one of those firms to boost pay in response to Cravath's market-setting move, matching it in some large markets like New York. First-year associates in Hartford were bumped up to $155,000, from $145,000, according to Ted Augustinos, managing partner of the Hartford office.

“We don't distinguish among the associates at the entry level, but we distinguish based on the various markets, including the cost of living and the market for top lawyers in those cities,” Augustinos said in explaining the pay differential between sites. “We continually watch the market and make sure that our associates are paid what the market requires and that's much easier to do given the additional financial stability and performance that we've seen out of our recent merger.”

Contributing factors

The firm was Edwards Wildman until it merged with Locke Lord in Jan. 2015, after which attorneys also got raises, so the latest pay hike is the firm's second in 1½ years. Like Cravath, which raised pay up the experience ladder, Locke Lord pay hikes also “rippled up the chain,” Augustinos said.

Two factors contributed to the latest raise, he said.

“One is, if you need to be competitive, then you need to make raises when the market moves, like it just did,” Augustinos said. “The other factor is you need to be able to pay those higher [salaries]. The benefits of our merger included better financial stability and ability to stay with the top of the market in the cities that we serve.”

The recent increase for Hartford associates “was a very important statement for them that we're determined to have the best associates in all of our markets and that we have the wherewithal to make sure that happens,” he said.

Locke Lord has 14 lawyers in Hartford.

Other national firms with offices in Hartford, including Bracewell LLP and Brown Rudnick LLP, also followed Cravath with raises, according to Law360 and Above the Law. Representatives from those firms did not return calls or emails, but Above the Law reported Brown Rudnick matched Cravath in all U.S. offices, including Hartford, after first limiting the hikes to New York.

Local firms differ

Monte Frank, who became president of the Connecticut Bar Association on July 1 and is a principal at Cohen and Wolf PC, which has roughly 60 lawyers among its Bridgeport, Danbury, Orange and Westport offices, said he hasn't seen a lot of willingness among firms in the state to match the hikes that aren't part of the top 50 New York or international firms.

Connecticut has top-rate legal talent attracted to the state for many reasons, including quality of life, legal camaraderie and quality of work, all of which make it an enjoyable place to practice law, Frank said.

The big firms with Connecticut offices are more tied to the latest market moves, he added.

“But for most of the Connecticut firms, I don't think there's a strong appetite to match,” Frank said, agreeing that small and midsize firms tend to follow market forces not dictated by the biggest firms.

Frank said his firm pays “attention to what's going on in the market, but we've always had success at attracting high-quality lawyers because of all the other factors — quality of life, collegiality. I think that's important to keep in mind, and I predict we'll continue along that track.”

Quality of life

Locke Lord's Augustinos echoed quality-of-life sentiments in explaining the market pay differences. He said more young lawyers may opt for the convenience and cost of markets like Hartford over slightly higher pay in places like New York.

“I've practiced in Hartford my entire career and my practice is not really based in Hartford, so it doesn't really matter where I live,” he said. “Most of the people in our office would probably say about the same thing. Our clients are all over the place.”

What Locke Lord offers, he added, “is that you can have a practice that's based on our firm's platform, that's really as sophisticated as you would find anywhere in any city with the livability and cost of living of a place like Hartford.”

Alan Lieberman, managing partner of Shipman & Goodwin LLP, the Hartford area's largest firm based on number of local attorneys, said the firm was watching the latest pay moves.

“We are committed to being competitive in our compensation and bonus structure while remaining conscious of providing value to our clients, so we are watching, with interest, the reported associate pay increases,” Lieberman said via email.

“Over the last few years, we have had great success recruiting highly talented lawyers from first years all the way up to senior partners, resulting in appreciable growth in our attorney head count,” he said. “Our compensation structure is only one of the factors that attracts lawyers to our firm. We have a very interesting and sophisticated client base locally and nationally that provides many unique and challenging opportunities for our attorneys.”

Four other firms with offices in Hartford — Cantor Colburn LLP, Day Pitney LLP, Halloran & Sage LLP and Robinson + Cole LLP — declined to comment for this story.

A spokesman for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, which has an office in Hartford with 19 lawyers, declined to comment, saying the firm neither publicly discloses nor comments on compensation for partners or associates.

Above the Law reported the firm raised pay to the Cravath level in U.S. offices, up through seventh-year associates.

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