$11 Million a Year for a Law Partner? Bidding War Grows at Top-Tier Firms
Sandra Goldstein, a former leader of Cravath, Swaine & Moore’s litigation department who is leaving the firm to join Kirkland & Ellis, will be well-compensated in her new role: $11 million a year for five years, plus a signing bonus, according to The New York Times.
“What has the legal profession’s upper ranks abuzz is that for decades partners almost never left Cravath voluntarily — not for other law firms, at least, let alone for a firm like Kirkland, which is in some ways Cravath’s polar opposite,” writes reporter James B. Stewart.
He adds that Kirkland has shaken up the profession and expanded its practice by poaching top partners from Cravath, Latham and Skadden Arps Meagher Slate & Flom.