Need help approaching the partners in my law firm about raise?

I work at a small law firm. I started here b/4 I was actually a licensed atty Aug 1, 2006 however my salary did not change after I became licensed. Since i'm not a partner, in certain aspects i'm treated like a regular firm employee, but in other senses i'm treated differently (i.e. paralegals/secretaries are paid hourly and i'm salaried). Other firm employees are up for a raise at the beginning of each calendar year. This is my first full time job so I really am clueless about how to approach this very touchy subject. There are 2 males (who are notorious for being obnoxiously cheap) and 1 female who is good to approach abougt employee issues but still leaves most of the decisions up to the two men. I had a 6 month review early in the year but they just talked about my work and there was no mention of a raise. Help...

mj69catz

If you are not a subscriber to the newsfeeds at LAW.Com -- you may want to subscribe.

Recently, there have been several articles on the increases in many areas for starting wages for Associates. In addition to the answer above -- I would also arm yourself with a copy of these articles. While you wouldn't necessarily get $160,000 per year unless you are working for that type of firm (which generally have billable hour requirements of 1800+ hours per year), this is also a negotiation tool.

Plus, look at what you bill each month. If you have access to your billing software, see if you can get a "Payment Realization" report on the payments made against the time you have billed. You should be receiving at least 1/3 of those receipts, as a general rule.

Also, in law firms bonuses are very common. You may want to check into the availability of these bonuses and what they are awarded based on. If they are awarded based on receipts against your time -- you may want to recommend that you are willing to do additional collection efforts against any old outstanding bills for your work where receipts have not come in yet.

Good Luck!

kayejano

I don't know if this will help. But your first step is gather and/or document everything you have done (incl. obtaining your license) and will do in the near future. Set a target date to have yourself armed with your info to approach the partners(don't forget to research what others in your area in the same line of work are getting paid (salary.com or salaryrate.com).
When you are ready with all of your experience documentation in hand, set up a meeting with TPTB.
The day of the meeting, dress like you did when you first interviewed for the job, this way they will know you are serious.
Sit across from the and use these words in the conversation, "Thank you for taking the time to see me today." "I wanted to speak with you about a salary rate increase..." "within the past 3 months I have done..." "I think that my work is..." "with this in mind, I believe I am asking for $____", however, I am willing to negotiate."

All I can say is this approach worked for me and I received $4.00/hr more in my paycheck.

Now keep in mind that they may say "No". But do not get discouraged. If you really like the job, find out the things you need to do to (from TPTB) to receive a raise.
Now if you do not like the job, continue working there but search for another position. when you receive another job over, you know have another negotiating tool.

Whatever you do, don't whine, grovel or get angry. Just say, "Thank you for your time." Shake hands and walk out of the office. In other words keep your cool.

Hope you get it!!!

acermill

Your best bet is to leave that firm and join another at which you will be treated with the professional courtesies normally offered to those holding a law degree.

From what you post, I tend to gather that they are still treating you more like a 'legal assistant' than they are a full attorney at law.

You now have the credential to command more respect than you are receiving. If these folks don't want to give it to you, another firm probably will.

Good luck !

mrm33064

There are only a few ways to advance (read: make more money) within a law firm. One way is to bring more business in the door. Another way is to bill a lot of (realizable) hours while keeping clients happy. The options are rather limited.

#1 is really the key. Ultimately, you want to get yourself out of the position where you need to "ask" for raises. The way you do that is to network like a fiend, and start to make some rain. Remember, "rainmaking" can happen internally as well; that is, finding additional projects that existing happy clients need done before they know what they need. Think proactively - and that benefits both you and your client.

Work toward getting yourself out of the position where you have to worry about depending on others to give you raises or not. Make it so that your own book of clients is so big, and so happy, that your partners have to worry about how to keep you happy before you ask. Good luck! :)

happybidz2003

Since the lady is helpful, ask her and she will relay the message. Mention that at your review a raise wasn't mentioned and is there a policy about raises, ( yearly, performance, etc.) Also mention that you are now licensed and how long you have been with the company.

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