‘Where’s
my
money?’
With
a
new
salary
scale
on
the
horizon,
is
it
any
wonder
that
Biglaw
is
buzzing
with
news
about
…
*record
scratch*
…
office
returns?
Associates
are
watching
their
inboxes
like
hawks
to
find
out
when
their
salaries
will
go
up,
but
with
raises
apparently
on
hold,
all
they’re
receiving
are
updates
about
when
they’ll
have
to
start
wearing
suits
instead
of
sweatpants.
One
of
the
latest
firms
to
announce
plans
unreleated
to
money
is
Ropes
&
Gray.
As
you
may
recall,
the
firm
decided
to
employ
a
phased
approach
to
its
eventual
return
to
the
office.
According
to
a
recent
memo
(available
on
the
next
page),
Phase
2
of
the
Ropes
return-to-office
plan
started
on
February
7,
and
lawyers
are
being
encouraged
to
work
from
the
office
one
to
two
days
each
week.
Phase
3
of
the
firm’s
plan
will
begin
on
March
1,
and
at
that
time,
lawyers
will
be
expected
to
work
from
the
office
at
least
three
days
each
week.
Ropes
&
Gray
has
planned
for
several
remote
weeks
for
attorneys
in
the
future:
the
week
of
the
July
4th
holiday
(July
5-8),
Thanksgiving
week
(November
21-23),
and
the
Christmas
holiday
week
(December
27-30).
The
firm
is
being
generous
with
its
remote
work
availability,
but
what
about
its
compensation?
Associates
at
Ropes
tell
us
that
they’re
eagerly
awaiting
a
Milbank
match
that
they
hope
will
be
announced
and
kick
in
before
Phase
3
of
the
firm’s
RTO
plan
begins.
As
soon
as
you
find
out
about
reopening
plans
at
your
firm,
please email
us (subject
line:
“[Firm
Name]
Office
Reopening”)
or
text
us
at
(646)
820-8477.
We
always
keep
our
sources
on
stories
anonymous.
There’s
no
need
to
send
a
memo
(if
one
exists)
using
your
firm
email
account;
your
personal
email
account
is
fine.
If
a
memo
has
been
circulated,
please
be
sure
to
include
it
as
proof;
we
like
to
post
complete
memos
as
a
service
to
our
readers.
You
can
take
a
photo
of
the
memo
and
attach
as
a
picture
if
you
are
worried
about
metadata
in
a
PDF
or
Word
file.
Thanks.
Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on
Twitter
or
connect
with
her
on
LinkedIn.