Making it to midlevel in Biglaw isn’t easy, especially when the vast majority of what you know is pandemic and post-pandemic Biglaw life. Today’s midlevels — third-, fourth- and fifth-year associates — worked incredibly long hours during the uncertain times COVID-19 brought upon the legal profession and the world at large, and then they were thrust back into office life they knew little about for an ever-increasing number of days.
That is, of course, no easy task, but if you did make it to your firm’s midlevel ranks during the past few years, it was arguably more difficult than ever. Associates crave training and mentorship opportunities, but not every Biglaw firm has been able to fulfill their end of the bargain. The American Lawyer just released its midlevel associates survey, and as noted by Dan Roe, “the sheer existence of a mentorship program or formal training doesn’t guarantee that midlevel associates are being adequately mentored.” He goes on to explain that today’s midlevels are seeking out guidance, but that some programs are missing the mark:
When given the opportunity to expand on how they felt about their firms, midlevels talked about mentorship more than nearly every other topic, including compensation. …
Indeed, midlevels were quick to differentiate between the roll-out of firmwide or practice-wide training efforts and the importance of having relationships with more-senior attorneys. “Provide actually effective mentoring as opposed to formal mentoring programs that feel forced and do not contribute much,” said one Latham & Watkins midlevel.
The challenge for partners, of course, is that they already have extensive demands on their time, and large associate classes in recent years have resulted in even more midlevels for each partner to look after. Therefore, some associates suggested that firms recognize mentorship contributions when considering who to promote.
To come up with these results, Am Law asked midlevel associates to evaluate how satisfied they are with their firm on a variety of different questions: compensation and benefits; training and guidance; relations with partners and other associates; interest in and satisfaction level with the work; the firm’s policy on billable hours; and management’s openness about firm strategies and partnership chances.
Overall, midlevels’ satisfaction was flat compared to last year, at 4.371 out of 5. Why could that have been? As noted by Am Law, while billable hours are up to 1,951 annually, average base salary was “mostly flat,” up just a hair to $290,740. Total average bonuses, however, increased by nearly $10,000 to $58,046. Mentorship was a “bright spot” on the survey, however:
Midlevels rated their relationships with partners at 4.45 out of 5 points on average, higher than they rated every other category (including the importance of their work, compensation and benefits, communications from management, billable hours and partner track clarity) besides relationships with fellow associates and firm attitudes toward pro bono.
More than two-thirds of midlevels said they were getting the right amount of feedback, while 28% said they were getting too little. Meanwhile, 91% said they had a mentor of some sort, while 9% didn’t.
That said, let’s get down to the rankings. The full list is available here, but these are the firms that make the top 20 in terms of midlevel satisfaction:
- O’Melveny & Myers
- Blank Rome
- Morgan Lewis
- Gibson Dunn
- Akin Gump
- Winston & Strawn
- Munger Tolles
- McDermott Will
- Patterson Belknap
- Baker & Hostetler
- Paul Hastings
- Sheppard Mullin
- Finnegan Henderson
- Fish & Richardson
- Mayer Brown
- Alston & Bird
- Clifford Chance
- Loeb & Loeb
- Cahill Gordon
- Jenner & Block
Congratulations to all the firms that made the list — and to the midlevels who have jobs they’re relatively happy with, all things considered. Who knows, maybe in the future they’ll enjoy their Biglaw firms even more if they receive the mentorship and guidance they’ve been yearning for.
The 2025 Midlevel Associates Survey: The Rankings [American Lawyer]
Engaged Mentors Can Make or Break the Midlevel Associate Experience [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of 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.