Associates Feel Market Swings as Partners’ Paydays Soar
Partner satisfaction is at an all-time high, and compensation is the engine driving it. Jeffrey Lowe, CenterPeak's Market President for Washington D.C., connects the surge in partner job satisfaction directly to "skyrocketing" compensation rates over recent years, noting that lateral movement—once considered somewhat taboo—has evolved into an open, firm-wide priority: firms "have now jumped in with both feet, and now it's just a free for all." Meanwhile, associates are logging record hours, with Q4 2025 averaging 51.7 hours per week, and Lowe cautions that even that figure is likely an undercount, as firms increasingly expect attorneys to remain perpetually available.
