Houston's Porter & Hedges and Dallas-based Jenkens & Gilchrist each have increased associate pay, following the lead set by a number of other large Texas firms.
Both firms are responding to a new, higher market rate that began to develop March 8, when Houston-based Vinson & Elkins announced a new, higher salary scale.
"When your people are your most important asset, you've got to do what you believe is necessary to attract and retain your people. So this is where the market is moving, and we believed this is an investment worth making," says Jenkens partner Patrick Mitchell of Dallas, a member of the firm's board of directors.
The 275-lawyer Jenkens announced a new Texas associate salary scale Monday that will pay a first-year lawyer a base salary of $140,000. The firm is working on a bonus scale, Mitchell says.
The rest of the new Jenkens Texas salary scale -- the firm has offices in Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio -- calls for a second-year associate to be paid a $145,000 base salary and a third-year to be paid a $150,000 base. It's a $160,000 base for a fourth-year, $170,000 for a fifth-year, $180,000 for a sixth-year, $185,000 for a seventh-year and $190,000 for an eighth-year associate.
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