Business
The pay bump is aimed at keeping the firm competitive with top law firms nationwide as firms continue to fight for top talent.
Buildings are reflected in 200 block of Clarendon Street. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
McDermott Will & Schulte LLP is raising its starting salary for first-year associates to $235,000, becoming the first Boston law firm to publicly announce that pay level as competition for top legal talent continues.
The new salary went into effect July 1, according to an internal memo from firm Chairman Ira Coleman that was shared with employees in June. The firm said the increase is part of its effort to provide “industry-leading compensation.”
The move puts McDermott in line with some of the country’s largest law firms, including New York-based Milbank, which also raised first-year associate salaries to $235,000, according to Reuters. Several other firms nationwide have matched that figure, though many have not.
Despite Boston’s status as one of the nation’s largest legal markets, none of the city’s major firms, including Ropes & Gray, Goodwin, WilmerHale, Choate Hall & Stewart, Mintz, Foley Hoag, and Nutter, had publicly announced a matching salary as of the end of July.
Ropes & Gray lists a 2026 first-year associate base salary of $225,000 on its website. The firm did not respond to a request for comment about whether that figure remains current. Other major Boston firms, including Goodwin, WilmerHale, Choate, and Mintz, do not publicly disclose associate salaries and did not respond to requests for their current pay levels.
Boston remains one of the country’s strongest legal markets, with major firms specializing in areas including life sciences, private equity, technology, health care, higher education, and intellectual property.
According to the Boston Business Journal, which first reported on this story, more than 230 large law firms have offices in Massachusetts, employing more than 8,500 attorneys statewide.
McDermott’s announcement comes as salaries for young lawyers continue to rise nationally.
The National Association for Law Placement’s 2025 U.S. Associate Salary Survey found the median first-year associate salary nationwide was $200,000 as of Jan. 1, 2025. The most commonly reported starting salary was $225,000, though only 32% of reporting offices paid that amount.
The survey also found that higher starting salaries were concentrated in major legal markets, including Boston.
McDermott, which is headquartered in Chicago and has a Boston office, ranked as the 32nd-largest law firm in Boston by attorney headcount, with 109 local employees, according to the Boston Business Journal.
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The firm said its compensation strategy is designed to attract and retain top associates.
“We are committed to top-of-market compensation for our associates,” the firm said in a statement. “This approach delivered strong results: two-thirds of our associates have consistently earned bonuses at or above the Cravath scale.”
The Cravath scale refers to a compensation system used by many elite U.S. law firms that sets associate pay based on class year and seniority rather than individual performance.
McDermott said the percentage of its U.S. associates earning above the Cravath scale increased to 73% in 2025.
“We remain focused on recognizing and rewarding the exceptional work of our associates,” the firm said.
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Beth Treffeisen is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on local news, crime, and business in the New England region.
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