Salaries at King & Spalding are based on a fixed, lock-step system and are market-based, but in late August 2009, the firm announced it may be moving away from lock-step salaries and rely more on bonuses to award individualized performance.   In August 2009, the firm also announced it would be freezing salaries at 2008 levels and salaries of associates in Atlanta and Charlotte will be cut by an additional $10,000 on an annualized basis.  The firm is considered a laggard in terms of setting bonus amounts, and Lateral Link Members report the firm sometimes does not award bonuses until as late as March.  While Lateral Link Members admit "bonuses are low," they say it is compensated for by the fact the firm doesn't "have [a] minimum billable requirement."

King & Spalding emphasizes on-the-job learning along with formal training programs.  Training ranges from the firm's New Associate Academy for attorneys starting at the firm to its Link Program, a mentoring system that links all new associates to a senior associate and partner, to its e-Learn series, a set of monthly, practice-area-specific sessions on cutting-edge issues.  Until recently, King & Spalding had a free-market staffing system, but according to Lateral Link Members, the firm has moved to a hybrid system, "where each team has a junior partner that coordinates each associate's...work load for the upcoming week and...distributes new work accordingly."  Some associates are still not entirely satisfied with the staffing system, with one Lateral Link Member complaining that it "could be better" and "does not necessarily lead to the best growth for a junior associates."  The firm has no formal rotation system, but associates "are allowed to do work for another practice area aside from [their] own."

King & Spalding has no official minimum billable hours requirement, but according to Lateral Link Members, bonuses are awarded only to those associates who bill 2000 hours.  Possible consequences for associates who don't reach this unofficial minimum include "no bonus," a talking to about low hours, and possibly being "outsourced to a busier group."

Although Lateral Link Members concur that the firm does not emphasize face time, the pressure to be in the office goes up when associates' hours go down.  As one Lateral Link Member explains:  "As long as you are getting your work done, people will generally leave you alone, but if partners sense you are slacking off, they will expect you to put in face time."  The firm provides four weeks of vacation time on a use-it-or-lose-it basis.  Lateral Link Members report that it is not uncommon for them to be in the office on holidays and weekends.

King & Spalding encourages attorneys to volunteer for pro bono assignments as well as suggest new public interest projects for the firm.  In addition to pro bono work in the community, the firm has developed several signature programs in the areas of consumer advocacy, indigent criminal defense, and eviction defense, which are coordinated by attorneys at the firm who train and recruit junior associates in the programs.  Two-thirds of King & Spalding associates perform pro bono work, and there is no limit on the number of pro bono hours associates may work; however, the firm will only a maximum of 100 pro bono hours towards billables and bonuses. 

The firm has two partnership tracks, averaging ten years for equity partner and seven years for non-equity partners.  Lateral Link Members report that if a senior associate is passed over for partnership, he or she is allowed to remain at the firm and is reconsidered the following year.

Benefits at King & Spalding include a subsidized cafeteria in the Atlanta office, monthly happy hours, free dinners for associates working past 7:00 p.m., subsidized childcare, tickets to sporting events, and free Coca-Cola products, courtesy of one of the firm's well-known clients.  Attorneys also receive their own office as first-year associates.

Summer associates in King & Spalding's eight-week summer program rotate through several practice areas to expose them to various departments at the firm and are expected to complete 6 to 10 assignments during the summer. Lateral Link Members report the work was "real" and "challenging," and say they received "great" feedback, including "line-by-line feedback on...writing." The firm encourages summer associates to participate in pro bono work and will pay the salary for summer associates who work with a public interest organization during the second half of the summer. The firm does not provide summer associates with BlackBerrys. Summer associates typically leave the office by 7:00 p.m., but a Lateral Link Member warns that the "hours [can] get long at times." Members also say that although summer associates sometimes need to work on weekends, they can usually do so from home. Summer associates can attend an unlimited number of lunches, for which the firm provides a $15 budget. The firm also hosts social events twice a week, including dinners at partners' homes and a weekend retreat at a lake.