Because of the rapidly changing market, a supplemental survey of the larger firms was conducted in August 1998 to compile the most current information on base salaries for Class of 1998 associates. The volume of data allowed analyses for 35 individual cities as well as many additional states and regions not encompassed by those cities. These analyses reveal a wide range of law firm compensation. Contrasts between large cities and smaller metropolitan areas are also evident. The survey also reports the aggregate compensation and bonus systems at participating firms, including new information on the prevalence and size of bonuses for prior judicial clerks.
Aggregate compensation includes bonuses in addition to base pay.
About one-quarter of the firms reported paying a bonus to prior judicial clerks, with large firms most likely to offer bonuses. The detailed results of the survey, including medians, averages, and ranges of base salaries for associates through the eighth year, aggregate compensation for associates, and comparisons of compensation structures, have been published in the 1998 Associate Salary Survey .