Sorry, Associates, But Now There’s ‘Less Pressure’ To Increase Biglaw’s $225K Salary Scale

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

Without the stiff competition of the talent wars to push it along, the market is not moving as quickly to follow the few big firms who have announced first-year pay increases as we saw in the last cycle.

— Nikia Gray, executive director of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), commenting on the organization’s latest salary report, which revealed that as of January 1, 2025, the median base salary for first-year associates was $200,000, rising to $215,000 at firms with more than 700 lawyers. “Most notably, while some firms are now offering an eye-popping $225,000 entry-level salary, the overall median first-year salary and the median first-year salary at the largest firms remained flat compared to the figures NALP reported in 2023,” she said, “indicating that the market softened over the last two years and there is less pressure on firms to increase salaries in order to remain competitive.” NALP’s report notes that just 32% of all law firms offer $225K to first-year associates, but that rate grew to 45% among law firms with more than 700 lawyers.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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