Raises Coming Anytime Soon for BIGTex Associates?

We know by now that the new market rate for starting associates in NYC and DC is $160,000. At least some of the East Coast firms have raised starting salaries to $160,000 in their Texas offices as well, including Fish & Richardson, Skadden Arps, and Weil Gotshal. Others have partially matched the NYC raises in Texas, including Gibson Dunn, Patton Boggs, DLA Piper, and Jenner & Block, all paying $145,000 to new Texas associates—a $10k raise.

Will Texas firms be next? Probably not. Last year, the Texas firms did not move until after the Chicago and Atlanta firms raised. The good news, though, is that Jones Day, Alston & Bird, and King & Spalding have all raised salaries in their Atlanta offices. Although K&S has a Houston office, word on the street is that K&S considers salaries for associates in each of its offices independently, and we should not expect K&S to be a first mover in the Texas market. Alas.