Slowdown Impacting Some Michigan Law Firms
Female Partners Still Rare
Starting Salaries Continue
to Increase Statewide
Contacts: Traci Gentilozzi, Publisher
(800) 678-5297 X12
Aubrey Haznar
(800) 444-5297 X8312
(781) 226-8616-Pager
LANSING, MI (April 30, 2001) ― The slowdown in the Michigan
economy is being felt in the state’s law offices but is also benefiting others,
according to a survey by Michigan Lawyers
Weekly. The annual “Largest Law Firms” survey by the legal trade
publication found 14 of the 39 large law firms decreased their lawyer staff in
the past year. But the survey found 18 firms increased the number of attorneys
on staff. The survey also found five of the 20 largest Michigan law firms
increased starting associates salaries by $20,000 a year, compared to the prior
year. The results of the survey can be
found in the April 30th edition of Michigan Lawyers Weekly and through the paper’s web site, www.MichLaw.com.
“Law
offices are great barometers on the economy.
When the economy is thriving, law offices traditionally see an increase
in the number of new corporations and businesses they help establish. But when
the economy sputters or turns down, those law firms, which cater to new
businesses or new economy-type companies suffer first. On the flip side, law firms that specialize
in bankruptcy usually see an increase in work when things cool off. The one constant we are seeing is an
increase in salaries for lawyers in the larger law firms,” said Attorney Traci
Gentilozzi, Publisher & Editor of Michigan
Lawyers Weekly.
The
number of partners who are women in Michigan’s top 20 law firms did not change,
according to the survey, and continues to lag behind the rest of the
nation. Only 12 percent of the largest
law firms have female attorneys at the partnership or shareholder level.
Nationally, 15 percent of partners in law firms are women, according to the
American Bar Association.
Salaries for starting lawyers in
Michigan’s largest law firms continue to increase. While pay has gone up in all years since Michigan Lawyers Weekly began conducting its survey, the past two
years have seen drastic pay raises including five-digit increases at some law
firms. Five of the top 20 firms reported a salary increase of at least $20,000
from the prior year. One notable
mid-sized firm, Pepper Hamilton of Detroit, reported starting salaries ranging
from $98,000 to $132,000 a year, which does not include bonuses.
Michigan Lawyers Weekly is the leader for legal news for the Michigan
legal community, providing vital news, opinions, verdicts, settlements, legal
analysis and more. Founded in 1972, Lawyers Weekly, Inc. publishes statewide
newspapers in seven states in addition to Michigan (Massachusetts, Missouri,
North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Rhode Island) as well as Lawyers Weekly USA,
a national newspaper geared to smaller law firms and LawyersWeekly.com, an
Internet resource site. Please visit
the paper’s customized legal website at www.MichLaw.com
for continuously updated legal news and information.
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