Elite Law Firm Raises Pay For First Time In Years

03:48

June 08, 2016

Same-sex couples and their attorneys who had previously challenged the wedding ban celebrate on court steps after Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel lifted the stay, allowing same-sex couples to marry January 5, 2015 in Miami, Florida. (Emily Michot-Pool/The Miami Herald/Getty Images)

The New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore announced in a memo this week that it is increasing the annual salary it pays to first-year lawyers, from $160,000 to $180,000, for the first time in nearly a decade.

Salaries for other associates are also increasing, in what is being seen as an unusual move that is a bellwether for the industry.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with CNN's Maggie Lake about why the firm is increasing pay right now.

Guest

Maggie Lake, host of CNN Money with Maggie Lake. She tweets @maggielake.

This segment aired on June 8, 2016.