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BNY Mellon technology specific questions -
#0 How much max salary for grade K ?
#1 How long does it take to promote in bny from grade K to L ?
#2 Any specific criteria for promotion? Expr , certification etc...?
#3 How much % hike to expect post promotion ?
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I bill 1800 hours in big law. I would not do it for 70k
It’s 1-2 weeks less per year. to me that’s big to get more time to focus on health family, vacation etc
Might as well work at big law at that number
Depends on your market in Ohio-are you in one of the cities? You can certainly try for BL, but 1800 is the floor. You’re more likely to bill 2000+, on top of expectations for doing non-billable work (article writing, webinars, and other brand development work). If you’ve got some flexibility to grind out a few years, it’s not a horrible way (but also not enjoyable) to get some cash in.
Rising Star
I went from a small 1800 hour firm to biglaw. In biglaw, hours are so much easier to come by and to bill, so your 1800 easily turns into 1950 at a biglaw firm without really doing much more. In the small firm, there were always things I could not bill for and a lot of downtime between assignments. I'd find a better paying job if I were you.
If you are small law working insurance defense or small business work you are paid on par as a new associate. Dont listen to biglaw when comparing salaries if you're not in biglaw. It's a totally different world
Agree with this. It’s a lot easier to bill 1800 in insurance defense than in some other fields and because of that the pay is usually lower. Depending on the complexity of the work you do, that pay may be pretty much on point.
Ohio lawyer here. I started at a small (25 attorney) firm in NE Ohio at 65k back in 2012. 1800 hour requirement. Firm has raised the starting salary to 80k now. Seems to be about average from what I know from other firms in the area. Hope that helps!
Yes. For perspective, if your rate is $300/hour, you billed out $540,000 to your clients.
There is zero chance your benefits are $10,000 per year.
Part of "benefits" is payroll taxes which the firm has to pay (8% plus of your salary - $5,600 in OP's case), bar dues, memberships, and CLEs (varies greatly but averages around $4,000 per attorney), marketing and attorney development, the costs of recruiting you, etc., plus any actual benefits you personally receive, like the firm's contribution to your retirement and/or profit sharing (3% average = $2,100, plus your portion of the costs of administering the 401k plan, $210), quarterly or merit bonuses. You will have exceeded $10,000 easily unless you are a contract employee only. This amount does not include anything such as a firm contribution to medical, life, accident, disability, vision, dental insurance, paid time off, etc.
Your overhead, for most firms, would be at least your salary and would be the cost for you to have a computer, phone(s), ipad, software licenses, email address, email server, file storage, practice management software, legal research provider, trust account fees, banking expenses, copier, fax machine, office furniture, lobby furniture, malpractice insurance, general liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, legal assistant, receptionist, runner, firm administrator, billing guru, plus additional fringe benefits such as lunches, break room snacks, periodic bagel day/order lunch in day, filtered water, toilet paper, soap, hand sanitizer, tissues, bandaids, etc., etc., etc.
It adds up, and $50,000 per attorney is about half of what I would estimate for a first year attorney. Most small firms run on small margins. Y'all aren't as cheap as you think you are. ;)
Rising Star
It also depends on your hourly rate. If you’re over $400 per hour, I’d say you’re making the partner a very pretty penny for basically nothing. $400 x 175 billable hours = $70,000
In Ohio as well. You’re not being robbed for the salary that you yield working at a small firm. You would be robbed if you were working at a bigger firm. In other words, pay and hours are not atypical for small firm. But you could get higher pay and similar billable hour requirement at a medium size / big firm
👀👀 lol certainly not your boss. CLE
For a firm that size in Ohio, I don’t think you are robbed. You can research and see how much the firms your size pay first year associates.
Where in Ohio?
That’s not too bad if it’s a small City or a rural area!
People do not have good conceptions of how far money goes.
You are being robbed, I'm making more at a nonprofit in a small city. Start looking for a job that values your time.
I'm in ID just to the south of you in a similarly sized firm, making roughly the same amount for the same amount of hours (a little more, but I've been in my firm longer). You're ballpark market rate for the region.