Ed.
note:
Welcome
to
our
daily
feature,
Quote
of
the
Day.
What
we
understand
is
that
the
firms
that
are
paying
the
most
also
often
give
the
highest
bonuses,
and
there
are
reasons
for
that.
Those
are
the
firms
that
are
really
competing
with
[Biglaw]
for
talent,
that’s
why
their
salaries
are
the
same
or
reaching
towards
[Biglaw],
and
the
bonuses
tend
to
be
significantly
higher
than
in
[Biglaw].
—
Jay
Edelson,
founder
of
plaintiffs
firm
Edelson
PC,
in
comments
given
to
the
American
Lawyer,
concerning
compensation
transparency
at
plaintiffs
firms.
“It’s
only
been
more
recent
where
plaintiffs
firms
have
been
going
to
[on
campus
interviews],
especially
at
the
top
schools,
and
part
of
that
was
that
the
career
services
department
didn’t
really
support
plaintiffs
work,”
Edelson
continued.
“When
we
started
going
there
years
ago,
we’ve
been
going
for
about
15
years,
we
had
to
explain
that
no,
we
don’t
pay
$30,000
a
year.
That’s
just
not
how
it
works,
but
that’s
the
messaging
they
gave
to
their
students
because
frankly
they
just
didn’t
know.”
The
National
Plaintiffs
Law
Association
is
currently
conducting
an anonymous
survey to
gather
pay
data
from
plaintiffs
firms,
while
Edelson
has
compiled
his
own
tiered
list of
starting
salaries
at
more
than
a
dozen
of
the
largest
plaintiffs
firms
in
the
country.
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 Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
connect
with
her
on LinkedIn.