In-House Lawyers Chafe At BigLaw Wage Hikes

Bank of America and Allstate Corp. are among the companies whose general counsel have warned outside law firms of the consequences that could come from joining a wave of BigLaw firms raising associate pay. Following the lead of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, many firms met or surpassed the new bar of paying first-year associates $180,000. “[O]ne question must be the merits of a business model that compensates fresh law school graduates, who are devoid of any meaningful lawyering experience, with a salary greater than that of a seasoned in-house corporate attorney with a decade or more of experience counseling senior leaders in our organization,” wrote Allstate GC Susan Lees, in a note reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. After Cravath announced its pay hike earlier this month, some 50 law firms have matched the pay scale.