It's good to be a lawyer at a big firm these days. Cal Law reports that a number of prominent, large, local firms keep raising salaries for starting associates, leading to peers to do the same.

And these are big firms employing hundreds or even thousands of attorneys; they hire a lot of folks out of law school. That's a lot of accumulated dough they're gonna owe. Of course, someone's got to pay the firms granting these raises, and clients aren't very happy. Probably because they know they'll ultimately be the ones footing the bill.

And why the hell does everybody know everybody else's salary? Is it like a pissing contest -- you offer the most money and have to let the other guys know it?

In our corporate experience, public salaries are a big no-no. Tends to lead to hurt feelings.

Of course, this isn't a problem for law firms, as lawyers have no feelings.

(We kid, Rita! We kid)!

Actually, SFist Rita makes a good point: with public salaries, everyone knows where they stand -- it encourages equality in an organization amongst people of the same position.