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“Hard” legal skills, “soft”
practice management, and rainmaking skills are
developed at different rates in different
individuals. The Firm’s associate compensation
system recognizes these differences and encourages
the development of well-rounded professionals.
In general, associate
salaries are lockstep by class year for the first
three years of practice. During these years,
attorneys are expected to focus on developing their
legal skills, although they are encouraged to take
initial steps to identify community activities and
networking forums with which to become involved.
After three years of practice, compensation is set
based upon the associate’s work quality,
productivity, teamwork, business development efforts
and Firm management activities. We pay our
associates competitive salaries to recognize and
reward them for their efforts.
In addition, after the
first full year of practice, an associate is
eligible for a merit bonus. Bonuses are awarded for
exceeding the expectations set for the associate. We
look at the same “skills + activities” factors used
to set the associate’s base salary. The amount of
our bonuses varies greatly, but typically fall in
the range of 2% - 10%.
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