6th year attorney here. Will be seeking a raise. We are a small firm with steady billable litigation work. An associate just left, who we won’t be replacing, freeing up their entire amount of salary plus insurance costs etc. I’m currently just below $100k/year plus a $10k Christmas bonus. I am the senior associate. All cases go through me before going to the partner. We have good work/life balance. Anyone care to help by sharing their compensation? What is average for my situation?

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That’s way to low for so cal, Unless you’re not in San Diego, Orange County or Los Angeles

So I would ask for a 50k raise

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110 total for a 6th year in SoCal is waaaay too little. Are you outside of the major metro areas? What type of litigation, is it insurance defense?

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For reference, I made 120k as a 2nd year and 150k as a 3rd year in LA doing PI.

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You should be making significantly more. At least 200. You mentioned good work life balance. How good? Unless you actually mean 9-5 and a lot of PTO this arrangement is not worth it. Talk to them about a significant raise or start looking.

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You’re still underpaid by a lot unless you’re outside the big cities. I think 200 is low end. 300 is possible for complex lit but any job paying that would require a lot more hours. What I meant by “unless you’re 9-5” is that if you’re ok getting a lot less to keep the work life balance then you might consider staying for this salary or a small raise. But if you don’t mind working more you should start job hunting. I’m a sixth year also. My base salary is 200. I work more hours than you but weekend situation is the same. Only when I have to catch up or close to/during trial.

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What market are you in?

Sorry I left out that important info. Southern California

Yeah that’s garbage I came from a small firm in Northern California making 190k before lateraling into big law to make cravath as a 3rd year 220+50. Major market but not SF - shouldn’t be double you even so, you’re a 6th a year. Want you to get paid my friend!

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What do you bill out at?

Don’t forget to factor in that the former associate won’t be billing for the firm anymore. So it’s not just that the firm doesn’t have to pay the salary and benefits but also won’t bring in the collections.

Do you know what the firm collects on your hours? Take a third of that as a rule of thumb. If you’re in So Cal and bill at $400-$475, like you mentioned in another comment, then $100k would be appropriate only if you worked 1/3rd of the time or your partners are the worst bill collectors on the planet. You are way way way underpaid

As a6th year senior associate you should be at $150K, not less than $145K

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