When the midlevel survey was introduced in 1986, one of the editors wrote that the magazine had chosen to highlight these same three qualities in that survey “because we felt they best reflected the overall quality of life for associates at their firms.” Those three areas of associate “satisfaction” are still covered on the survey questionnaire for both surveys, but the scoring mix was gradually enlarged to 9 questions in the ensuing 6 years. Then in 2003, after another statistical analysis was commissioned, the mix of scoring questions was revised and enlarged again.

The current 12 scoring questions on the Midlevel Survey cover interest and satisfaction levels regarding the following: the work; the benefits and compensation; relations with associates and partners; training; the firms commitment to pro bono; and the likelihood of the associate being at the firm in two years. Summer associates are similarly asked to rate the following aspects of their intern experience: how interesting the work was; how much real work was assigned; how the training and guidance measured up; how positive their interactions were with partners and associates; how well the firm communicated its goals and expectations; how accurately the firm portrayed itself in interviews; and the respondent’s inclination to accept a position if one were offered. Associates are asked to rate these factors on a 5-point scale, in which a “5” is the highest or best measure and a “1” the lowest. A firm’s score is the average of these ratings from all its associates that participated in the survey.

Somewhere along the line – one can easily imagine the era and the impetus -- questions having to do with the technology and tech support at the respondents’ firms were added. Soon, the results of these questions were bundled together to create the annual “Tech Scorecard” rankings.

There have been other significant changes in methodology over the years. 2001 saw the transition to web surveying, though firms are still allowed to choose whether their associates will participate in the survey via Web or print. In 2002, the number of responses required from each firm was changed from 5 to 10 responses, in order for the firm to qualify for the national rankings. And in 2005, the definition of “midlevels” was revised to include fifth-year associates, in addition to the third- and fourth-year associates who had traditionally been invited to participate in the survey.

Reporting Cycles: The results of the Midlevel Associates Survey were published in the August issue of The American Lawyer; the Summer Associates Survey results will be published in their October issue; and Tech Scorecard will appear in November.

Many of ALM’s regional newspapers, as well as its national newspaper, carry reports of the number of summer associates at the key firms in the area and how much they are paid per week. Though the Daily Business Review (Miami) publishes their report in May, the others publish their reports in June: Daily Report (Atlanta); Legal Intelligencer (Philadelphia); Legal Times (Washington, D.C.); the National Law Journal; New Jersey Law Journal; New York Law Journal; The Recorder (San Francisco); and Texas Lawyer.

Likewise, the same publications publish reports of first-year associates, the number at each firm, and their starting salary. The following publish their reports in September: The Legal Intelligencer; The National Law Journal; and The Recorder. And these newspapers publish their new associate reports in October: Daily Report; Legal Times; New Jersey Law Journal; New York Law Journal; and Texas Lawyer.

Associate-Related Reports Available: Besides the Midlevel Associates Survey feature story in The American Lawyer, which focuses on how little associates’ complaints have changed in the last 20 years, national rankings, rankings by size, rankings by city, and a capsule report (Firms A to Z) of each participating firm’s results are available online. Two other feature reports in the August issue focus on the associates from Mitchell Silberberg who were featured on the cover in the report of the 1986 survey (Where are they now?), and former “cellar dweller” Curtis Mallet, which “rocketed up the charts by learning how to keep its associates in the loop.”

ALM Research Online also offers a Midlevel Associate Survey spreadsheet product which includes the current and previous year’s national and city rankings for each participating firm, the score and number of respondents and response rate both overall, and for each participating office.

Reprints of each feature story are available through ALM Reprints. But the Reprints division offers much more than just reprints of the current year’s charts and feature stories. Interested firms can order compilations of multiple years’ worth of charts and stories of the associate survey reports.

In addition, the ALM Reprints division offers a comprehensive management report of a firm’s results in either of the Associate Surveys which includes the overall firm results and each participating office's results for each question on the survey, as compared with the national averages or the average for the particular city. Write-in responses, edited to protect the anonymity of the respondents, are also included in the management report, along with a copy of the questionnaire. The results are described and analyzed in an executive summary and full report discussing how the firm ranked as it did and why, with particular emphasis on issues having to do with quality of life, prospects for partnership, and retention. For more information about these management reports, contact Syndia Torres at 212-545-6033 or by email at storres@alm.com.

The NLJ Salary Supplement is a spreadsheet product derived from information gathered in the annual National Law Journal’s annual NLJ 250 survey, and includes compensation information for first-year associates. Elements of the survey include base salary, signing and year-end bonuses, reimbursement for bar expenses, CLE expenses, moving expenses, and other forms of additional compensation.

The 2006 report will not be available, however, until November, and this year has already seen numerous published reports of raises in first-year salaries. So, ALM Research Online offers an Associate Salary Update spreadsheet, which is an on-going compilation of first-year associate starting salaries for the majority of the Am Law 200, NLJ 250, and Global 100 firms, with additional salary and bonus information where available. All information was independently collected and compiled by ALM Research from reports published in ALM Media, Inc. publications, and from the most recent The NLJ 250 (November 2005), law firm web sites, and other internet resources.