Boutique law firms mean business when it comes to compensation. They recruit the best and brightest lawyers and reward them handsomely with top salaries and bonuses that often exceed the market.
Two New York-based boutiques — Holwell Shuster & Goldberg and Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna — that are used to making headlines with their wages were recently featured in a piece on associate compensation and retention in the American Lawyer. Here are some additional details.
HSG pays associates the Cravath Scale—starting at $225,000 for first-year associates and $420,000 for seventh-year associates. Bonuses can make those salaries anywhere from $240,000 for first years to $535,000 for seventh-years.
Cohen Ziffer, on the other hand, decided in 2023 not to stay in line with the Cravath scale, instead choosing to pay associates $5,000 to $10,000 less. This was largely because Cravath gave their associates a $10,000 raise last year, according to firm leaders Adam Ziffer and Robin Cohen. Ziffer was originally concerned about the small pay difference, but Cohen and other leaders eventually convinced him that the pay change would not make a large difference.
Katherine Loanzon, the managing director at Kinney Recruiting, had this to say of the firms’ pay scales: “We generally do see that boutiques’ compensation is competitive with Big Law. And a lot of attorneys choose boutiques because they really do get hands-on training.” This hands-on training has been a huge draw for former Biglaw attorneys, and on top of working at a smaller firm with more camaraderie, they may also find that their hours expectations are a bit less demanding.
“We had one associate come and have a bad reaction to our 1,900-hour requirement because he was burnt out after working at a firm requiring 2,400 to 2,500 hours. If you have a bad reaction about 1,900 hours, this isn’t the place for you,” Robin Cohen [of Cohen Ziffer] said.
Who can really complain about making the same amount of money as a Biglaw associate while working fewer hours? Boutique firms certainly seem like a winning bet when it comes to compensation and lifestyle.
How New York’s Top Boutiques Are Staying Competitive in Associate Compensation and Retention [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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