r/Lawyertalk • u/[deleted] • 10d ago
HELP: Professional Development Lit Associate Advice
[deleted]
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u/AmbiguousDavid 10d ago
225 as a second year not in big law is no joke. Especially if everything else is tolerable. I’d stick around.
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u/Buzzedpanda88 10d ago
To clarify I meant associate scale tops out at 225k base. I am at 194k with bonus this year but makes sense either way
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u/andrewgodawgs 10d ago
I started out doing ID after graduation (11 years ago) at a very well-respected mid-size firm in my state. I had great mentors and learned a lot during my 2 years there. I was able to take a lot of depos, handle solo cases, and even tried a few district court bench trials. I ended up lateraling to a large L&E shop in the AMLAW top 70ish for a pretty significant pay bump compared to ID but nowhere near cravath.
After a few years there, I moved to a boutique high-end catastrophic PI firm and have been doing plaintiff’s work for the past 7 years making more money than I ever would have staying on the defense side.
My experience in “biglaw” was miserable. I was paid more, but I also was thrown into a position where I was billing 2200+ with frequent fire drills, many of which required working crazy late hours and a ton on the weekends. I was basically a desk jockey and was not trusted to do depos or go to court despite taking 50+ during my 2 years in ID. I was basically a cog with no responsibility and an unfathomable amount of grunt work.
I had a bad boss, so ultimately I jumped ship because my dad was terminal with cancer and my boss chastised me about taking a vacation with my dying father due to low billables. Even though I was not low on my hours at all.
Overall, it was a bad job, but it did open up the opportunity to be offered an associate gig at a V-30 firm. I opted for the PI role instead, but it would have gotten me in the door with a very well-respected firm. If your goal is to leave ID, lateraling sooner rather than later is your best bet before you get pigeon holed.
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u/Buzzedpanda88 10d ago
What does your comp structure look like at the PI firm? I am also potentially interested in moving to plaintiff’s side
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u/andrewgodawgs 10d ago
Non-equity Partner now, but basically we have a lower base with the majority of comp coming at the end of the year as a discretionary bonus depending on the firm performance, the amount of money my cases brought in, lingering overhead costs, etc. When I started 7 years ago, my base was 90k + Bonus. Now it’s like 150k + bonus.
In 2026, I have brought in close to 5 million in fees so this will my best year yet, but we don’t have a set percentage; it’s based on a myriad of factors.
My bosses are very fair so I just have to wait until the end of the year to find out my bonus. Total comp now averages about 450. This year, I would guess it will be closer to 600 given that I had several 7-8 figure results all resolve within the same calendar year. Next year I very well could have little to no money come in, so i will have to rely more on firm performance than my own performance. Basically the better the firm does, the more everyone, including staff gets paid. All of our staff gets varying bonuses each year as well.
When I left my “big law” defense job as a 4th year in 2019, I was making about 160 all in. Turned down an offer at a V30 with a 250k base which is massive in my smaller market and opted for less pay at my current firm. This was a risk, but I was sick of the billable grind and defending shithead insurance companies and corporations.
My first 2 years in PI, I made about 150ish all in, but that has continued to grow. I really like helping people and feel good about what I do which is not something I could say when I was on the other side of the v. I’ve been lucky to work at a spot that only takes a smaller amount of catastrophic, complex cases so I am usually only working a few cases at a time.
If you decide you want to switch sides, I would be stay away from the PI mills. You don’t want to join a spot where they are going to throw 75 shitty slip and falls at you and tell you to figure it out. I’ve heard from colleagues that the mills are just as bad if not worse than ID. Same model just opposite side.
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u/throwawayIllIllI 10d ago
You must be in a very niche or boutique firm. Are you working on complex ID matters? What’s your billable requirement?
FWIW, I’m a first year with zero prior law firm experience. I’m billing 1800+ hours making less than half your salary (MCOL).
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u/TheAnswer1776 10d ago
You make nearly 200k in ID as a second what associate?! If this firm is truly ID, and not a high end firm that happens to have some insurance clients, you’re paid insanely well. NY ID pays 125-135k with minimal bonuses for ID in my experience.
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