{"id":155348,"date":"2026-06-24T07:31:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/24\/boutique-law-firms-response-to-the-milbank-scale-been-there-done-that\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T07:31:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:31:40","slug":"boutique-law-firms-response-to-the-milbank-scale-been-there-done-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/24\/boutique-law-firms-response-to-the-milbank-scale-been-there-done-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Boutique Law Firm\u2019s Response To The Milbank Scale? Been There, Done That."},"content":{"rendered":"

While much of the legal industry has spent the past few weeks scrambling to match Milbank\u2019s new salary scale<\/a>, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider has a different problem: they\u2019re already ahead of it.<\/p>\n

The boutique antitrust and litigation powerhouse raised its first-year associate base salary to $250,000 in 2025<\/a>, that\u2019s $15,000 above the new Milbank floor of $235,000, and its scale remains above market across class years. So, Axinn is handing out firmwide special bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, paid by July 15.<\/p>\n

Per a memo dated June 23, 2026, the bonuses cover all associates, counsel, and eDiscovery attorneys. Here\u2019s the associate bonus scale:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Class Year<\/th>\nBonus<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
8th+<\/td>\n$25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7th<\/td>\n$25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6th<\/td>\n$25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5th<\/td>\n$25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4th<\/td>\n$20,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3rd<\/td>\n$15,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2nd<\/td>\n$10,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1st<\/td>\n$10,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

The memo is notably transparent about the firm\u2019s thinking, \u201cThat commitment extends to maintaining our position as a market leader in compensation, with our associate salaries remaining above the newer scale adopted by some of our competitors. The Firm continues to evaluate market developments and will make adjustments where appropriate, consistent with our investment in exceptional talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

One housekeeping note, associates must be in good standing as of July 8, 2026 to qualify for the special bonus, which will be prorated based on start date where applicable. Counsel and eDiscovery attorneys will receive separate communications about their bonuses.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to everyone at Axinn \u2014 already earning above market, and now getting a bonus on top of it. Not a bad place to be in the summer of 2026.<\/p>\n

Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates. When your firm matches or announces bonuses, please text us (646-820-8477)<\/strong> or email us (subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Matches\u201d). Memo preferred, photo works just fine.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Boutique Law Firm\u2019s Response To The Milbank Scale? Been There, Done That.<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While much of the legal industry has spent the past few weeks scrambling to match Milbank\u2019s new salary scale<\/a>, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider has a different problem: they\u2019re already ahead of it.<\/p>\n

The boutique antitrust and litigation powerhouse raised its first-year associate base salary to $250,000 in 2025<\/a>, that\u2019s $15,000 above the new Milbank floor of $235,000, and its scale remains above market across class years. So, Axinn is handing out firmwide special bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, paid by July 15.<\/p>\n

Per a memo dated June 23, 2026, the bonuses cover all associates, counsel, and eDiscovery attorneys. Here\u2019s the associate bonus scale:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Class Year<\/th>\nBonus<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
8th+<\/td>\n$25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7th<\/td>\n$25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6th<\/td>\n$25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5th<\/td>\n$25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4th<\/td>\n$20,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3rd<\/td>\n$15,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2nd<\/td>\n$10,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1st<\/td>\n$10,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

The memo is notably transparent about the firm\u2019s thinking, \u201cThat commitment extends to maintaining our position as a market leader in compensation, with our associate salaries remaining above the newer scale adopted by some of our competitors. The Firm continues to evaluate market developments and will make adjustments where appropriate, consistent with our investment in exceptional talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

One housekeeping note, associates must be in good standing as of July 8, 2026 to qualify for the special bonus, which will be prorated based on start date where applicable. Counsel and eDiscovery attorneys will receive separate communications about their bonuses.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to everyone at Axinn \u2014 already earning above market, and now getting a bonus on top of it. Not a bad place to be in the summer of 2026.<\/p>\n

Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates. When your firm matches or announces bonuses, please text us (646-820-8477)<\/strong> or email us (subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Matches\u201d). Memo preferred, photo works just fine.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Boutique Law Firm\u2019s Response To The Milbank Scale? Been There, Done That.<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While much of the legal industry has spent the past few weeks scrambling to match Milbank\u2019s new salary scale, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider has a different problem: they\u2019re already ahead of it. The boutique antitrust and litigation powerhouse raised its first-year associate base salary to $250,000 in 2025, that\u2019s $15,000 above the new Milbank floor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":155296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-HozCmH.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}