2006 Law Firm Rankings

Methodology

This is a ranking of highest amount of pay per hour worked at law firms. Pay includes both the salary and bonus. The following figures are based on Midlevel associates (3rd, 4th & 5th year). The data comes from The American Lawyer's 2005 Midlevel Associates Survey. Please visit that site (free registration required) to see complete survey results for each law firm.

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The Highest 20
Rank	Law Firm	Main Office	Participating Offices	Average Salary	Average Bonus	Average Hours Worked	Pay per Hour
1	Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler	New York	New York	$163,929	$36,154	53.3	$72.19
2	Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy	New York	Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC	$165,645	$37,283	54.2	$72.00
3	Ropes & Gray	Boston	Boston; New York; San Francisco; Washington, DC	$171,807	$37,806	56.6	$71.22
4	McKee Nelson	Washington, DC	New York; Washington, DC	$169,091	$48,333	59.1	$70.75
5	Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr	Washington, DC	Baltimore; Boston; New York; Washington, DC	$177,355	$30,027	56.5	$70.59
6	Allen & Overy	International	Hong Kong; London; New York; Tokyo	$168,824	$39,171	57.2	$69.93
7	Schulte Roth & Zabel	New York	New York	$170,238	$38,625	57.6	$69.73
8	Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz	New York	New York	$172,083	$82,778	71.1	$68.93
9	Dewey Ballantine	New York	East Palo Alto; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC	$166,094	$32,625	56.5	$67.64
10	Willkie Farr & Gallagher	New York	New York; Washington, DC	$166,667	$33,074	56.9	$67.51
11	Cahill Gordon & Reindel	New York	New York	$160,667	$56,033	61.9	$67.32
12	Weil, Gotshal & Manges	New York	Austin, TX; Boston; Dallas; Houston; Miami; New York; Redwood Shores, CA; Washington, DC	$165,368	$39,676	58.6	$67.29
13	Kirkland & Ellis	Chicago	Chicago; London; Los Angeles; Munich; New York; San Francisco; Washington, DC	$165,946	$42,302	59.9	$66.86
14	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	New York	London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto	$163,750	$43,723	60	$66.50
15	Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner	Washington, DC	Atlanta; Cambridge, MA; Reston, VA; Washington, DC	$164,706	$22,137	54.2	$66.29
16	Debevoise & Plimpton	New York	New York	$160,556	$37,941	57.6	$66.27
17	Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel	New York	New York	$167,167	$27,500	56.5	$66.26
18	Shearman & Sterling	New York	Beijing; Hong Kong; London; Menlo Park, CA; New York; Paris; San Francisco; Toronto, Ontario; Washington, DC	$167,719	$37,518	59.7	$66.11
19	Kaye Scholer	New York	Chicago; Los Angeles; New York; Washington, DC	$165,759	$20,460	54.6	$65.59
20	Fenwick & West	Mountain View, CA	Mountain View, CA; San Francisco	$170,000	$16,682	54.8	$65.51
The Lowest 10
151	Lewis and Roca	Phoenix	Albuquerque; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Tucson	$102,786	$7,900	53.9	$39.49
152	Dykema Gossett	Detroit	Ann Arbor, MI; Bloomfield Hills, MI; Chicago; Detroit; Lansing, MI	$101,667	$6,214	52.9	$39.22
153	Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease	Columbus	Alexandria, VA; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Columbus	$110,158	$0	55.4	$38.24
154	Holland & Hart	Denver	Billings, MT; Boise; Boulder; Cheyenne, WY; Denver; Salt Lake City; Santa Fe	$95,222	$7,861	52.4	$37.83
155	Carlton Fields	Tampa	Atlanta; Miami; Orlando; St. Petersburg; Tampa; West Palm Beach, FL	$102,235	$4,321	54.9	$37.33
156	Barnes & Thornburg	Indianapolis	Chicago; Elkhart, IN; Fort Wayne, IN; Indianapolis; South Bend, IN	$104,321	$5,808	57.3	$36.96
157	Lindquist & Vennum	Minneapolis	Denver; Minneapolis	$94,222	$5,463	51.9	$36.94
158	Adams and Reese	New Orleans	Baton Rouge, LA; Birmingham; Houston; Jackson, MS; New Orleans	$93,318	$2,517	53.6	$34.38
159	Harris Beach	Rochester, NY	Buffalo; Ithaca, NY; New York; Rochester, NY	$79,667	$1,650	51.3	$30.48
160	Harter, Secrest & Emery	Rochester, NY	Albany; Buffalo; Rochester, NY	$83,038	$3,083	56.2	$29.47