Law Professor William D. Henderson (click on photo for bio)
Managing Partners and law firm H.R. Executives should contemplate the meaning of Indiana University School of Law’s Prof. Bill Henderson’s post: "How the ‘Cravath System’ Created the Bi-Modal Distribution."
Professor Henderson builds on the work of NALP (The National Association for Law
The Wall Street Journal has a post called: Big-Law Associates Facing 2008 Salary Cap by Dan Slater.
Here is a key paragraph from that post from which my title was derived:
"We called around to firms to find out whether associate salaries, called economically-irrational in some quarters, have finally (or, at least, for now) hit
Here’s the actual quote:
Lawyers are smart, but this herd mentality seems absolutely irrational, economically speaking — and not because the compensation is too high. The top law firms have been stuck in copycat mode for years. As soon as one of them raises salaries for associates, the others fall in line almost immediately.
Later
Supplemental to my post "Sharp Pin Approaching Associate Salary Balloon", my friend and Edge colleague Robert Millard has created a post which may impacts the context for discussing associate salaries. He explains his title: America’s Two Legal Professions with the graphic above. Read his post for a detailed explanation. Sometimes critical change is too subtle
Today’s front page Wall Street Journal Online article is compulsory reading for all law firm Managing Partners and H.R. professionals:
Hard Case: Job Market ?Wanes for U.S. Lawyers – Growth of Legal Sector Lags Broader Economy; Law Schools Proliferate
By AMIR EFRATI, September 24, 2007; Page A1
While the article admittedly says:
“For graduates of
