Who is going to break the pay freeze? In November 2023, Milbank set first-year associates at $225,000 and eighth-years at $435,000. In November 2025, Cravath confirmed in writing that base salaries would not rise in 2026.
Two and a half years and no raise. Which firm is going to break it this year?
BigLaw happiness rankings are starting to look like Formula One with billing targets. O’Melveny beats Morgan Lewis by 0.021 points in Vault’s “happy lawyers” survey. That’s basically one slightly less angry 3rd-year associate with a decent partner mentor and functioning espresso machine.
Are these worth the internet time anyway? Half the industry is still throwing money, “wellness weeks” and AI copilots at associates who’d quite like to see daylight before midnight. Curious thing: the firms winning on happiness are also the ones acting least like sweatshops with marble reception desks. Revolutionary concept that, I'm sure.
Legal AI's going all Hollywood, but not sure whether this is a sign of desparation amid the Claude code revolution or just another sign of the way we live these days