Biglaw Raises Come To Texas
Howdy! And welcome to the raise party!
Despite the flurry of Biglaw raise announcements this week, there’s a general suspicion that not every firm will be able to match. But it remains to be seen where that raise cutoff will land. Will the top 50 Biglaw firms all be able to easily match? The top 100? Will the raise haves and havenots be decided on geography?
Well, at least one firm isn’t letting location stop them from matching the top of the Biglaw compensation market. Baker Botts, a Texas-based firm with $752,495,000 in gross revenue last year, has brought the new Biglaw raises to the Lone Star State (and, of course, all seven of the firm’s U.S. offices). To be clear, other firms with offices in Texas have matched, but this is the first Texas-based firm Above the Law has heard of making $225,000 their new starting salary.
Effective January 1, the following compensation grid will be applied at Baker Botts:
| Deem Date | Salary |
| 2023 | $225,000 |
| 2022 | $235,000 |
| 2021 | $260,000 |
| 2020 | $310,000 |
| 2019 | $365,000 |
| 2018 | $390,000 |
| 2017 | $420,000 |
| 2016+ | $435,000 |
Plus there are bonuses at the firm, subject to the firm’s productivity and performance requirements, on the following scale:
| Deem Date | Bonus Amount |
| 2022 | $20,000 |
| 2021 | $30,000 |
| 2020 | $57,500 |
| 2019 | $75,000 |
| 2018 | $90,000 |
| 2017 | $105,000 |
| 2016+ | $115,000 |
And as an extra thank you to the best associates, the firm will offer “enhanced bonuses” for “exceptional contributions.”
You can read the full memo on the next page.
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
