A compensation arms race is accelerating across major law firms, with associates at multiple practices now looking at significantly improved pay packages heading into 2027.
DLA Piper matched Milbank’s $235,000 base salary scale along with summer special bonuses, then went further by adding enhanced bonuses worth up to 50 percent of market for every 100 hours billed beyond 2,000.
The move positions DLA Piper as one of the more aggressive bidders for associate talent in a market where top-tier pay has quickly become the baseline expectation rather than a differentiator.
Fenwick & West also announced it will shift associates on its 1,950-hour track to the $235,000 salary scale, with the change taking effect on January 1, 2027.
Against this backdrop of firms competing to attract lawyers, one of the profession’s established names is preparing to disappear entirely from the market after nearly a century of practice.
Weil Gotshal, founded 95 years ago, will close following a partner exodus and a merger attempt that ultimately failed to materialise, marking one of the more significant collapses in recent Big Law memory.
Associates at the firm received a farewell message outlining severance terms that include up to 90 days of salary and benefits, along with January bonuses for those who remain through the closure process.
The message also included a reminder to associates to keep billing, a detail that speaks to the firm’s effort to manage an orderly wind-down rather than an abrupt shutdown.
Elsewhere in the legal world, Judge Jesse Furman ordered Maurene Comey reinstated with back pay after ruling that her firing had been unlawful, a decision that landed amid fresh legal pressure on her father.
The Department of Justice unsealed what amounts to its third attempt to prosecute James Comey, this time over an alleged 2016 leak brought through a waiverless information, a procedural approach critics view as a questionable bid to sidestep the statute of limitations.
On the technology front, Jack Newton closed his ClioCon keynote with a polished demonstration that walked through a legal matter from an AI-answered intake call all the way to soliciting a client review.
The demo drew attention not only for its fluency but for the questions it raised about how much of the traditional attorney workflow Clio’s expanding feature set might eventually absorb.
As compensation packages grow richer and AI platforms take on more of the work, the legal industry is navigating a moment where the pressure on firm structures is coming simultaneously from multiple directions.