Milbank Raises Associate Salaries for First Time Since 2023 — Ice Miller Matches, Delays Until 2027

Milbank's new salary scale, effective July 1, 2026, is the first adjustment since 2023 and lifts first-year compensation to $235,000 (up $10,000) and eighth-year to $455,000 (up $20,000); the firm simultaneously announced summer bonuses of $6,000 to $25,000-plus payable by August 31. Ice Miller matched the Milbank scale at the first- and second-year levels and made significant increases across its structure, but announced that the increases would not take effect until January 1, 2027 — a signal that firms outside the Am Law 50 are participating in the salary arms race on a delayed timeline designed to manage near-term compensation budgets. The gap between firms that move immediately and those that defer matters for associate recruiting and retention in the fall 2026 cycle, when summer associate return offers and lateral associate movement converge. For any firm not yet on the Milbank scale, the January 2027 timeline sets the outer bound of competitive compensation without a formal defection.