Associate salaries are on the way up in Texas.
The executive committee at Houston-based Vinson & Elkins voted on Wednesday to raise associate salaries, moving first-year base salaries to $135,000 in Texas. The firm increased the first-year base in Washington, D.C., and New York City to $145,000, says managing partner Joe Dilg.
The raises are effective as of March 1, Dilg says.
With firms around the country raising associate salaries, Texas firms have largely stayed out of the fray -- until V&E made a move.
"We feel like we need to be able to ... compensate our attorneys based on the market that's there, not just the Texas market but the national market," says Dilg. "The national market had moved, starting with California, and moving across to New York and Washington. We have recruited and hired people on a national basis."
Dilg says V&E made adjustments in total compensation all the way up the associate salary scale.
He says first-years in Texas will be paid a $135,000 base salary plus a guaranteed bonus of $5,000.
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