4. Alston & Bird
Average total pay: $203,655
For: Associate*Best Companies rank: 36
Headquarters: Atlanta, GA
Alston & Bird's 800 lawyers represent such corporate heavyweights as UPS, Delta Airlines, Nokia and Dow Chemical. Of the 309 partners, nearly 20% are women, a high percentage in the law field. Attorneys and support staff get treated and paid well: Legal secretaries make more than $66,000 a year on average, for example, including bonuses of $3,400. The firm adds 7% of pay to every employee's 401(k) plan, regardless of whether employees contribute.
In the wake of the financial crisis, Alston & Bird redeployed people from slow practices to busy areas, encouraged employees to cut their commutes by telecommuting one day a week or working longer hours four days a week, and offered early retirement packages to employees with more than 20 years' service.
NEXT: Perkins Coie
Last updated February 05 2009: 1:03 PM ET
RSS*Most common salaried job
