The Cost of the Talent War: Bonuses, Raises Drive Up Big Law Compensation Expenses by Double Digits | The American Lawyer - The American Lawyer

What You Need to Know

• The salary increases that came out of the talent war have led expense costs at Am Law 200 firms to rise by double digits.
• The increases are most acute among the top 50 firms, where six-figure bonuses and millions in guarantees aren't rare.
• Next year, hybrid work is likely to emerge as another dimension in the talent market.

The frantic war for talent this year—and all of the financial incentives firms have deployed to better compete—has driven up compensation expenses at Am Law 200 firms by double digits on average, with firms in the top 50 seeing a more than 16% increase in compensation expenses, according to the The Citi Hildebrandt 2022 Client Advisory released Thursday.

The report found that Am Law 200 firms saw an average 11.6% increase in compensation expenses through the first three quarters of 2021 when compared to the same period in 2020. Compensation expenses increased at firms closer to the top of the rankings. While Am Law 1-50 firms saw compensation costs increase by more than 16%, Am Law 51-100 firms saw a 9.5% increase and Am Law 101-200 firms absorbed an 8.8% jump.

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source: https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2021/12/10/the-cost-of-the-talent-war-bonuses-raises-drive-up-big-law-compensation-expenses-by-double-digits/

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