An associate attorney is a lawyer and an

employee Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any ot ...

of a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...

who does not hold an

ownership Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

interest as a partner.

Types

Practicing attorney

An associate may be a junior or senior attorney, but normally does not hold an ownership interest in the firm even if associated with the firm for many years. First-year associates are entry-level junior attorneys and are generally recent

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

graduates in their first year of law practice. Generally, an associate has the goal of being made a partner in the firm, after a number of years gaining practice experience and being assigned to increasingly important and remunerative tasks. At firms with an "

up or out Up or out, also known as a tenure or partnership system, is the requirement for members of a hierarchical organization to achieve a certain rank within a certain period of time. If they fail to do so, they must leave the organization. Examples ...

" policy, associates who are repeatedly passed over for promotion to partner may be asked to resign. Some firms will also have "non-partner-track" associates who, though performing satisfactorily as employees, for whatever reason, will not be promoted to partner. Junior attorneys were formerly called "law clerks"; the term "associate attorney" was coined by Emory Buckner, hiring partner of Root, Clark & Bird (which subsequently became Dewey Ballantine) in the 1920s. The term "

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

" now generally refers to an attorney who serves as a research and writing assistant in a judge's chambers, although some law firms use the term to refer to a lawyer or non-lawyer who has specialized knowledge in one of the firm's practice areas but is not classified as a practicing attorney at the law firm.

Summer associates

Summer associates are current law students who have usually completed their second year of school (or in some cases, their first year of law school) and are interning at the firm for the summer. Summer associates have not passed the bar exam and are not attorneys. The summer associate program is often the primary method by which a law firm recruits for full-time associate positions.

Compensation

According to published data from the New York Times, the annual base salary for partner-track first year associate attorneys at top law firms in major U.S. legal markets such as

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California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, the

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, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

can range from $160,000 to $190,000 per year—with salary varying depending on the size and reputation of the firm.

References

Business terms Partnerships Lawyers by type Practice of law {{law-term-stub