Salary benchmarks
BigLaw Salary Scale 2026: $235K–$455K by Class Year
The big law salary scale in 2026 runs from $235,000 for a first-year to $455,000 for an eighth-year associate (effective 1 July 2026), plus year-end bonuses of $15,000–$115,000 set in November 2025. Milbank reset the base on 2 June 2026. Every figure is dated and cited.
One scale, eight paychecks. Pick a class year.
“BigLaw salary” is not one number. It is a lockstep ladder that more than doubles in all-in cash across eight years — choose a class and watch it move.
All-in cash for a first-year associate — a $235,000 base (2026) plus a $15,000 prorated year-end bonus (Nov 2025), the most junior rung on the scale. Biglaw Investor ↗
From the junior rung to the senior rung, all-in cash runs $250K to $570K (2026 base plus Nov 2025 year-end bonus) — same scale, eight different paychecks. Individual firms can pay on, above or below it. Every number is cited below.
What a BigLaw associate earns in 2026
On the 2026 Milbank/market scale (effective 1 July 2026), base salary runs from $235,000 in year one to $455,000 by year eight. The Nov 2025 year-end bonus brings a senior associate to $570,000 in cash.
- $235,000
- First-year associate base salary on the 2026 Milbank/market scale (effective 1 July 2026), before bonus.
- Biglaw Investor; Milbank announcement 2 June 2026; Bloomberg Law
- $455,000
- Eighth-year / senior associate base on the same scale (2026) — a $20K rise from the prior $435K top.
- Biglaw Investor; Milbank announcement 2 June 2026
- $570,000
- All-in cash for a senior associate — $455K base (2026) + $115K year-end bonus (Nov 2025), before the $25K special bonus.
- Biglaw Investor; Cravath year-end bonus memo, 18 Nov 2025
These are the standard market figures — the scale most AmLaw elite firms match. Individual firms can pay on, above or below it, and many AmLaw 100–200 firms pay a market-lagging or regional rate. See the full ladder and the sources below.
Same scale, eight different paychecks.
What our own openings feed says about the scale
The published scale is one thing; what firms actually advertise is another. We checked the public ladder against our own live US associate openings that disclose a pay band — and the market corroborates it.
- $235,000
- Median advertised floor across 1,039 live US associate openings that disclose a band — exactly the published 2nd-year scale base.
- Sartori & Partners live openings feed (build-time)
- $365,000
- Median advertised ceiling on those same openings — the published 5th-year base, where most disclosed bands top out.
- Sartori & Partners live openings feed (build-time)
- $550,000
- Highest advertised ceiling in the set — the same all-in figure a senior associate reaches on the published scale.
- Sartori & Partners live openings feed (build-time)
That floor-to-ceiling band — roughly $235,000 to $365,000, derived live from 1,039 US associate openings that publish a salary, recomputed on every build — tracks the Milbank/market ladder above. It is an independent check on the published numbers, not a separate scale: advertised associate pay follows the lockstep market as firms match the new scale.
Published 1st-year base
The new market floor on the 2026 Milbank scale, effective 1 July 2026.
Biglaw Investor; Milbank announcement ↗What changed on this page, and when
Every update is dated. The base scale below is the one in force on 30 September 2026.
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| Re-verified the 2026 base scale ($235,000–$455,000, effective 1 July 2026) against Biglaw Investor, Bloomberg Law, Law360 and Above the Law. Corrected the year-end bonus column to Cravath’s 18 November 2025 table ($15,000 first-year to $115,000 class of 2018 and senior); the earlier column was shifted by one class year. Added the 2025 special bonus column ($6,000–$25,000). Removed the metro headcount section. | |
| Milbank scale takes effect: $235,000 first-year to $455,000 eighth-year. | |
| Milbank announces the raise, +$10,000 for years 1–4 and +$20,000 for years 5–8 over the $225,000–$435,000 ladder; McDermott, Quinn Emanuel and Hueston Hennigan match within days. | |
| Cravath sets 2025 year-end bonuses of $15,000–$115,000 plus special bonuses of $6,000–$25,000, matching Milbank’s summer special bonuses. | |
| Page first published. |
One caveat on the lockstep: Cravath’s own careers page still listed a $225,000–$420,000 New York base scale on 30 September 2026, so not every bellwether firm has moved to $235,000–$455,000.
Base salary and year-end bonus, by class year
The market scale pays associates by class year — years out of law school — not by individual billings. Below: the 2026 base (effective 1 July 2026), the Nov 2025 year-end and special bonuses, and the resulting all-in cash.
| Seniority | Class (Nov 2025 bonus) | Base salary (2026) | Year-end bonus (Nov 2025) | Special bonus (2025) | All-in cash (base + year-end) | All-in with special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st year | Class of 2025 (prorated bonus) | $235,000 | $15,000 | $6,000 | $250,000 | $256,000 |
| 2nd year | Class of 2024 | $245,000 | $20,000 | $6,000 | $265,000 | $271,000 |
| 3rd year | Class of 2023 | $270,000 | $30,000 | $10,000 | $300,000 | $310,000 |
| 4th year | Class of 2022 | $320,000 | $57,500 | $15,000 | $377,500 | $392,500 |
| 5th year | Class of 2021 | $385,000 | $75,000 | $20,000 | $460,000 | $480,000 |
| 6th year | Class of 2020 | $410,000 | $90,000 | $25,000 | $500,000 | $525,000 |
| 7th year | Class of 2019 | $440,000 | $105,000 | $25,000 | $545,000 | $570,000 |
| 8th year & senior | Class of 2018 and earlier | $455,000 | $115,000 | $25,000 | $570,000 | $595,000 |
A firm counts seniority by graduation year. The year-end bonus compresses at the senior end: the class of 2018 and earlier all draw the top $115,000 (Nov 2025). Figures: Biglaw Investor, the ABA Journal and firm announcements; base effective 1 July 2026.
How the lockstep market actually works
Large US law firms compete for the same small pool of top law-school graduates, so they pay a lockstep salary keyed to class year rather than to an associate's individual revenue.
- Bellwether breaks first A lead firm — historically Cravath, more recently Milbank and Davis Polk — announces a new class-year number.
- Peers “match market” Within days, a wave of firms competing for the same graduates matches the number to stay competitive for talent.
- The scale becomes the rate Herd behavior means a single scale describes pay across dozens of otherwise very different firms — the de-facto national market rate.
- 2 June 2026: Milbank resets it The latest move — $235K–$455K, effective 1 July 2026, matched by McDermott, Quinn Emanuel, Hueston Hennigan and others within days.
The ladder is historically called the “Cravath scale” after the firm that long set it, though in recent cycles the first move has come from Milbank. The pattern is consistent: a bellwether firm announces a new number, and within days a wave of peer firms “matches market.” That herd behavior is exactly why a single scale describes pay across dozens of otherwise very different firms.
The previous base ladder — $225,000 for a first-year rising to $435,000 for a senior associate — had been the market standard since the summer-2023 Milbank/Cravath raise, flat for nearly three years. On 2 June 2026, Milbank broke first again, raising first- through fourth-year associates by $10,000 and fifth- through eighth-year associates by $20,000, effective 1 July 2026. McDermott, Quinn Emanuel, Hueston Hennigan and others matched within days. The new floor is $235,000; the new ceiling is $455,000. Because the market moves all at once when it moves, treat these as the standing rate as of 30 September 2026; a further lead announcement can reset the whole ladder again.
Bonuses: the part that compresses at the top
Base salary is only part of the package. Each autumn the market sets a year-end bonus scale, and most scale firms match it.
Cravath set the most recent one on 18 November 2025, running from $15,000 (prorated) for the class of 2025 to $115,000 for the class of 2018 and senior, with special bonuses of $6,000–$25,000 on top, for a maximum of $140,000. Crucially, the bonus ladder compresses at the senior end — every class from 2018 back draws the same top year-end bonus — so the percentage uplift on base shrinks as associates become more senior. The June 2026 base raise did not change the bonus scale; the year-end ladder reflects the Cravath November 2025 figures, and the 2026 scale had not been announced as of 30 September 2026.
The junior and mid-level rungs are where the bonus does the most relative work.
- Junior associates (first and second year) drew $15,000–$20,000 in year-end bonus (Nov 2025) on a $235,000–$245,000 base (2026).
- Mid-level associates (third to fifth year) drew $30,000–$75,000 in year-end bonus (Nov 2025) on a $270,000–$385,000 base (2026).
At the senior end the bonus caps, so all-in cash levels off — and a minority of firms break the scale upward.
- Senior associates (class of 2018 and earlier) drew the capped $115,000 year-end bonus (Nov 2025), taking all-in cash to $570,000 on the $455,000 base (2026) — $595,000 with the $25,000 special bonus.
- In record years, firms layer an additional special bonus on top of the year-end scale, and a minority of elite litigation boutiques deliberately pay above market to recruit and retain.
- Conversely, many AmLaw 100–200 firms pay a market-lagging or regional rate below scale — which is why “BigLaw salary” is a band, not a single number.
The bonus ladder compresses at the senior end.
Does the scale change by city?
For the AmLaw elite, largely no. The meaningful variation is not geographic but firm tier.
Firms on the Cravath scale generally pay the same base in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Boston and Houston, because they are competing for the same candidates regardless of office. The meaningful variation is not geographic but firm tier: scale-matching firms versus the larger field of firms that pay below it. For a market-by-market and role-by-role view across the wider legal profession — in-house, compliance and legal operations included — see our US legal salary & compensation benchmarks.
What the headline number leaves out
Comparing offers on base alone is a mistake associates make often. Before you weigh a lateral move on the salary line, also read these.
That is the analysis a specialist legal recruiter runs with you, in confidence, before any firm sees your name. If you are weighing a move, our associate & attorney recruiting practice and our guidance for associates exploring a move are the place to start.
Comparing offers on base alone is a mistake associates make often.
A note on accuracy — and on future movement
Legal compensation is a fast-moving target. The Milbank scale (effective 1 July 2026) is the current market floor for the AmLaw elite as of 30 September 2026, and the firms tracked by Above the Law and Biglaw Investor have matched it. The next move will follow the same pattern: a single bellwether firm breaks first and the market follows within days. We update this page when a new verifiable scale is confirmed firm-by-firm and class-by-class — we will not publish unconfirmed figures.
Every figure here traces to a cited source.
We do not publish numbers we cannot attribute. The published scale and bonus figures are publicly documented with live URLs below; the live-validation figures are derived from our own openings feed, recomputed at build time.
Sources
8 references- Biglaw Investor — Biglaw Salary Scale + Bonuses (1968–2026) biglawinvestor.com ↗
- Bloomberg Law — Milbank, McDermott Raise Associate Salaries Up to $455,000 news.bloomberglaw.com ↗
- Law360 — Milbank Raises Associate Pay Scale, Topping Out At $455K law360.com ↗
- Above the Law — Associate Compensation Scorecard: The 2026 Summer of Salary Increases abovethelaw.com ↗
- ABA Journal — Cravath kicks off associate bonus season and other firms follow abajournal.com ↗
- Above the Law — The race to match Milbank's new $235K salary scale may be faster than anyone expected abovethelaw.com ↗
- Cravath — How to Apply (New York associate base scale) cravath.com ↗
- Sartori & Partners — live legal-openings feed ↗
Compensation data is provided for general information only and is not financial, career or legal advice. Figures reflect the standard market scale as publicly reported: base effective 1 July 2026, bonuses announced 18 November 2025; actual pay varies by firm, market, class year, hours and bonus eligibility. The live-validation pay figures ($235,000–$365,000 across 1,039 disclosed-band US associate openings) are derived from our live legal-openings feed and recomputed at build time.
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BigLaw associate salary: FAQ
The questions associates and hiring managers ask most about the 2026 scale — answered, with the same content behind our FAQ structured data.
What is the big law salary scale for 2026?
The big law salary scale for 2026 runs from $235,000 for a first-year associate to $455,000 for an eighth-year/senior associate in base pay, effective 1 July 2026. Milbank set it on 2 June 2026, raising first- through fourth-year associates by $10,000 and fifth- through eighth-year associates by $20,000 over the $225,000–$435,000 ladder that had been flat since summer 2023. McDermott, Quinn Emanuel, Hueston Hennigan and others matched within days. Individual firms can sit on, above or below it.
What is the Cravath scale and why does it matter?
The Cravath scale is the lockstep pay ladder — associates are paid by class year (years out of law school), not individual billings. It matters because when one bellwether firm (historically Cravath, more recently Milbank and Davis Polk) sets a number, most large firms competing for the same graduates match it within days, so the scale becomes the de-facto national market rate for the AmLaw elite. Cravath still sets the year-end bonus table that the market follows each November.
How much do first-year BigLaw associates make in 2026?
A first-year associate on the 2026 Milbank market scale earns a $235,000 base salary (effective 1 July 2026). Cravath’s 18 November 2025 scale paid the first-year class a $15,000 prorated year-end bonus, about $250,000 in cash, or $256,000 with the $6,000 special bonus. The prior base was $225,000; the 2 June 2026 Milbank announcement raised that floor by $10,000.
What are BigLaw associate bonuses in 2026?
Cravath set the most recent year-end bonus scale on 18 November 2025: $15,000 for the first-year class (prorated), $20,000 second-year, $30,000 third-year, $57,500 fourth-year, $75,000 fifth-year, $90,000 sixth-year, $105,000 seventh-year and $115,000 for the class of 2018 and senior. Special bonuses of $6,000–$25,000 were paid on top, for a maximum of $140,000. The 2026 year-end scale had not been announced as of 30 September 2026.
Do BigLaw salaries vary by city — New York vs Los Angeles vs Texas?
For the AmLaw elite, mostly no. Firms on the Cravath scale generally pay the same base across major US markets — New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Boston and Houston — to compete for the same talent. The bigger variation is between scale firms and the many AmLaw 100–200 firms that pay a market-lagging or regional rate.
Did the BigLaw salary scale rise in 2026?
Yes. The base ladder had been flat since summer 2023 at $225,000–$435,000. On 2 June 2026, Milbank raised base pay across all classes — first- through fourth-year associates received a $10,000 increase to a new $235,000 floor; fifth- through eighth-year associates received a $20,000 increase, moving the top to $455,000. The raise took effect 1 July 2026 and was quickly matched by McDermott, Quinn Emanuel, Hueston Hennigan and others. Treat $235,000–$455,000 as the standing market rate as of 30 September 2026.
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