About the Ranking

The firms below have the highest paid midlevel associates (3rd-5th years). Per hour that is. This year Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel garnered the top honor with an associate pay of $83.02/hour. Rounding out the Top 100 is Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz with an hourly rate of $56.77/hour, or 68% of the pay received at Kramer Levin. The median hourly rate for these Top 100 firms is $68.09/hour. How much the pay hike at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett will reorder this ranking remains to be seen.

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Methodology

The hourly rate is calculated by dividing compensation, salary plus bonus, by 50 weeks and dividing that number by the average number of hours worked. The salary information is as reported in 2006 and the bonuses are as reported in 2005.

Only firms for which the AveryIndex has both bonus and salary information were included. Notable firms such as Williams & Connolly, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Boies, Schiller & Flexner are not represented as salary or bonus information was unavailable. The data for the calculations is principally based on over 6,500 associate surveys (3rd-5th years) from 2005 and 2006. See The American Lawyer's 2006 Midlevel Associates Survey. Only firms with 10 or more respondents are represented.

The Highest Pay Per Hour for Associates

1-10 | 11-30 | 31-50 | 51-70 | 71-100

Rank	Firm	2006 Salary	2005 Bonus	Total	Hours Worked	$ per Hour
31	Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr	$175,241	$30,027	$205,268	57.1	$71.90
32	Cooley Godward	$171,480	$28,208	$199,688	55.6	$71.83
33	Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher	$172,437	$27,106	$199,543	55.9	$71.39
34	O'Melveny & Myers	$177,209	$25,729	$202,938	57	$71.21
35	Covington & Burling	$176,020	$24,028	$200,048	56.2	$71.19
36	Latham & Watkins	$175,005	$31,389	$206,394	58.2	$70.93
37	Fish & Richardson	$174,211	$22,500	$196,711	55.7	$70.63
38	Katten Muchin Rosenman	$174,744	$20,829	$195,573	56	$69.85
39	Wiley Rein & Fielding	$170,909	$17,269	$188,178	54.1	$69.57
40	Fulbright & Jaworski	$167,745	$20,623	$188,368	54.3	$69.38
41	Howrey	$166,232	$15,179	$181,411	52.9	$68.59
42	Proskauer Rose	$178,364	$22,543	$200,907	58.6	$68.57
43	Sidley Austin	$173,920	$21,101	$195,021	56.9	$68.55
44	Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner	$171,364	$22,137	$193,501	56.6	$68.37
45	Hughes Hubbard & Reed	$183,148	$15,897	$199,045	58.3	$68.28
46	Sullivan & Cromwell	$186,210	$35,678	$221,888	65	$68.27
47	Morrison & Foerster	$175,075	$17,388	$192,463	56.4	$68.25
48	Hogan & Hartson	$174,459	$16,378	$190,837	56	$68.16
49	LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae	$168,389	$24,118	$192,507	56.5	$68.14
50	Arnold & Porter	$177,754	$8,589	$186,343	54.7	$68.13