Dunn Isaacson Rhee, the litigation boutique that broke from Paul Weiss, is now paying its associates more than its former home firm.
The firm has confirmed it will match the new Milbank salary scale, according to a memo viewed by Above the Law.
Associates will receive raises of between $10,000 and $20,000 depending on their class year under the updated compensation structure.
The new scale runs from $235,000 for first-year associates up to $455,000 for those in the class of 2018 and above.
The raises are set to take effect at the end of July, a few weeks later than the July 1 date most firms have adopted.
Dunn Isaacson Rhee was founded by Karen Dunn, Bill Isaacson, Jessica Phillips, and Jeannie Rhee after the group departed Paul Weiss rather than operate under the terms of the firm’s Trump deal.
Paul Weiss has not yet announced a matching salary increase, though most in the legal industry expect the firm to follow suit eventually.
The timing will nonetheless be meaningful to those who joined Dunn Isaacson Rhee in the wake of what critics called a damaging capitulation by the larger firm.
This latest move follows an already notable compensation history at Dunn Isaacson Rhee, which in its first year paid year-end bonuses of up to $175,000 with no hours requirements attached.
The firm has positioned itself from the start as a place built on the promise that leaving a large firm could mean building something more rewarding for everyone involved, including associates.
The decision to also pay out summer bonuses alongside the upcoming scale increase further reinforces the boutique’s reputation as an unusually generous employer for a firm of its size and age.
For the lawyers who bet on Dunn Isaacson Rhee when it launched, the firm now demonstrably exceeds its former home on associate pay, at least for the moment.