In a move sure to bring cheer to junior associates at major law firms, one of the industry’s most elite, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, on Monday said it had increased the annual salary for its first-year lawyers to $180,000, from $160,000.

Salaries for other associates have also been increased by $20,000 to $35,000 annually, up to $315,000 for associates in their eighth year. The news, which came in a memo from the firm’s partners, is a signal to other big law firms to fall in line or potentially lose the best new law school recruits.

The salary increases are likely to be matched quickly by high-earning firms including Davis Polk & Wardwell; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and Sullivan & Cromwell — if for no other reason than to make it clear that they all play in the same prestigious league.

It has been nearly a decade since entry-level lawyer salaries were last increased. Law firms, buffeted by a changing economy, have been struggling to adjust to corporate clients who are increasingly demanding billing discounts and refusing to pay steep rates for junior associates to learn on the job.