Lawyers: The $65,000 Minimum Wage

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For prestigious Wall Street law firms, keeping up with the Joneses means matching the starting salaries at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Cravath has been leading the pack since 1968, when it boosted the annual pay of its new lawyers to a then impressive $15,000. Last week, moving out front once more, the firm said that it will raise salaries for freshly minted attorneys from $53,000 to $65,000. While such big paychecks may seem excessive for recent graduates, Cravath and other top firms say they have been losing talent to the even more lucrative field of investment banking, in which starting pay can run as high as $75,000. Says Samuel Butler, Cravath's presiding partner: "Our new salary levels may not come close to what bankers earn, but every little bit helps."