first

Boring, anal retentive nerds rejoice!

I'm not dead. But I do make less than a 1st year at DPW.

"In good standing?"

Has there been any word on whether those who clerked, but are technically still c/o 2006, will receive the full special bonus or whether the special bonus, like the year-end bonus, will be prorated?

Chicago to trickle down economics!

As part of the special bonus, DPW will also get commemorative NYC sewer portal covers customized with the firm's initials.

What? No bonsai tree? Unbelievable!

Are these boni (DP, Simpson, etc.) for all associates, or just those in the New York offices?

what does "associates in good standing" mean?

> What? No bonsai tree? Unbelievable!

DPW is very consciously a low-swag firm. I suspect that the reason is that they don't want their name on cheap crap. All I remember anyone getting from them was a really nice pen.

A bonsai tree would have been nice though.

All your bonus are belong to us!

Nosotros tenemos control sobre vustros associates... pero los queremos

K&E has announced

NO SPECIAL BONSUES FOR YOU

I know Jones Day is like the money mafia when it comes to all this bonus business, but what will they do?

K&E is planning to swoop in this December and put the smack down.

What about Skadden? Will they match?

K&E sent out a memo explaining that they would, as always, pay bonuses in December.

"As in the past, we expect that those bonuses will be competitive in each of the markets in which we are located, and that they will continue to reflect our historical, meritocratic approach."

"Competitive." Sounds like they're preparing us for no "market-shattering" bonuses this year.

Does anyone know anything about Dechert's bonus system in both NY and Philly?

Does anyone know anything about Dechert's bonus system in both NY and Philly?

"associates in good standing" are every associate who is not going to get fired, sent on long-term secondment or otherwise politely and gently asked to get the fuck out.

3:09, I want to know the answer to that same question. if this special bonus is aimed at essentially increasing salary above other markets, than everyone should get it. but, since class of 2007 isn't getting it at all, then the clerks may also get nothing.

Haha. Now let's see non-NY associates say they make as much as NYers. What are the bonuses like in Dallas?

Where and why do associates get "sent on long-term secondment"?

A partner at a peer NYC firm recently told me that S&C/Cravath were the elite firms that had bright futures, and that DPW was, and would continure to be, on the decline. I didn't press him on the issue - anyone heard something like this?

Can everyone stop calling pluralizing bonues by saying "boni" or "bonii"?

What tools! Can't you just say bonuses and everyone will know what the fuck you're talking about?!

Ya -- In the past, K&E's literature consistently used to speak of "above market bonuses" -- now, the firm has take up on the "competitive" language. I think this signals a chance.

I hope not, for my sake. But I think it is the end of an era. The other firms have decided to catch up with K&E's bonus, and I dont think K&E is going to move ahead of them.

When I was at Dechert they sucked, unless you were a close personal friend of Bart Winnokur (firm chair), or happened to go to Harvard with him in 1845.

Their profitability over the last few years, while impressive, has been achieved completely at the expense of their associates. They are STINGY with partnership and bonuses.

Run, do not walk, away.

When will Gibson Dunn match the bonuses?

DPW is the most overrated firm in the city. Abandon ship.

has anyone heard anything about shearman? not sure how to take their comments that were posted a few days ago.

3:53 - looks like you know what they're talking about.

does anyone use "boni" non-ironically? i'ma guess no.

Jones Day pays merit bonuses. They will match market for middle ground (i.e., base plus special) as they always do. If you hit hours, you get that. Superstars will get above, slackers below. Bill, bill, bill.....

3:59 - sorry you didn't get an offer but you should probably try and be less bitter about it.

Yes 3:40, I know exactly what Dechert will be doing in NY and Philly. They will be waiting until sometime in January to announce that they will be matching Morgan Lewis in both markets (and actually paying bonuses near the end of February).

The only caveat is that nobody knows what Morgan pays in Philly, so this will amount to Dechert paying what it feels like, unless you do securitization work, in which case no bonus for you!

I personally guaranty the accuracy of this information.

Love,

Happy Dechert Associate

Jones Day pays merit bonuses. They will match market for middle ground (i.e., base plus special) as they always do. If you hit hours, you get that. Superstars will get above, slackers below. Bill, bill, bill.....

My boni is strong, long and veiny.

3:59 - sorry you didn't get an offer but try not to sound so bitter about it. i'm sure you're doing great wherever you are.

I also heard Davis is on the decline. I think they lost some big clients.

WGWAG.

DLA needs to pay a special bonus this year.

Question: Which of the firms that have matched or will likely match the bonus structure here do you think has the lowest number of average billed hours in a year for general litigation junior associates?

Answers and your reasoning behind the answer welcomed.

Thank you.

WGWAG.

3:57 is only sort of right. In NYC, Dechert will match whatever the bare minimum is to claim they're on market. In Philly, whatevery they pay IS the market, but it won't match NYC.

In 2003, Dechert saw a large number of associates leave because profits were going up (at an astonishing rate) and bonuses were paltry. Since then, they've actually been making an effort.

But the bonus is a black box. Hours play a role, but it's still discretionary. I knew people who came out extremely well, and I knew people who did not. The bonuses are determined within practice groups, so a 4th yr in litigation and a 4th year in FRE (finance & real estate) could have different bonuses for the same hours, with no real explanation.

Hours are critical. If you do not reach the 1950 minimum, you will not get a bonus. If you reach it, you are bonus eligible, which doesn't really guarantee you anything.

As soon as the billing year ends, the comp committee meets and evalautes everyone's hours and nonbillable contributions, like recruiting, biz dev, ass kissing, etc. They make a recommendation on bonus based on all of these things for every eligible associate. Then they give the list of all the recommended bonuses to Bart, who has final say. Every year, he spends the holidays at his place in Vail with a bottle of schnapps, the list of recommended bonsuses, and a calculator. He puts on his "Ebenezer Scrooge Has a Posse" t-shirt, taps the schnapps, and gets down to business.

They really are trying to be more transparent about it. They're just not very good at transparency. If they took the time spent by all the partners on the comp committee for committee meetings and had the partners doing billable work, they'd more than make up the difference between their complicated magic fairy dust system and just paying market.

Oh, yeah - Dechert likes to hold itself out a a "player" in the national market to clients and recruits, but when it comes to bonus time, the "peer firms" it uses to justify its weak bonii (pun intended) are a bunch of also-rans, just like Dechert is.

They love to compare themselves to the big NY firms in client and recruiting pitches, but like 4:11 said, come bonus time, they happily tell their associates that their peer firms are really marginal national or strong regional firms.

Telling, don't you think?

3:53, I will stop pluralizing "bonues" by saying "boni" as soon as you learn to spell.

3:53, I will stop pluralizing "bonues" by saying "boni" as soon as you learn to spell.

Until then, I will use "boni" and I will also pluralize my posts.

Until then, I will use "boni" and I will also pluralize my posts.

4:11, 4:26 - So, for example, in Philly what type of bonus are we talking about? Are we talking about below market level of $20,000 or very below market at $5,000? I'm thinking about litigation. Am I going to be screwed at bonus time because FRE is their top group?

4:26 - fairy dust or not, Dechert saves a boatload by shortchanging philly associates. Dechert has its biggest office in a city where it can be "top of market" while paying fifth years what a first year in NY (which is like an hour away, although you do have to cross a toxic waste site) makes. Meanwhile it bills all those fbus at NY rates for NY clients and pockets the difference.

As long as DPW has JPM and MS in its client stable it isn't going anywhere.

List of shame, Lat! By city, whose bonuses suck or don't exist!!

What's with the DPW haters out there? Did someone get rejected? No clients lost here, still good ol' DPW (the place with the hot associates)...

Davis may not have ridden the PE wave the way STB did, but w/ the corp clients they have, they'll be in better shape when the market climate changes

What's with the DPW haters out there? Did someone get rejected? No clients lost here, still good ol' DPW (the place with the hot associates)...

4:38 - No, you are going to get screwed because you are at Dechert.

4:40 - I agree completely, except that the shortchanging is not limited to Philly. It is good for the partners, and bad for the associates.

DPW is definately going down the tubes. I don't know many top law students who chose to go there over S&C, Cravath, or Skadden (including myself). I even think Simpson and Cleary, among others, are much better than Davis.

4:38 - don't you worry, litigators are running the show again. FRE is all quiet. For a relatively hard (2250 let's say) year as a junior, 15 or 20.

it's the same whenever you see anyone that is a cravath/s&c/dpw haterl. if you didn't get an offer, move on - you don't need to bag them on every post. get a life.

4:40 -- they could save the same boatload by just giving each market, or even each practice group lockstep bonuses. They could just declare that a 1st yr in NYC gets $30k and a 5th yr in Philly gets $30k, without the unnecessarily complicated and opaque system they use. The lack of transparency pisses people off.

You don't need a complicated system to shortchange Philly. That's Philly's role in the world regardless.

And the other 426 is right... Dechert will compare itself to whatever other firm is most convenient at any point in time. In early 06, before Latham had matched the bump from 125 to 135, everyone internally said Bart was waiting to see what Latham did. Latham raised, and then we were waiting to see what some other firm who hadn't done anything would do.

what is your standard of 'better?' they are all good firms. In my book DPW is still easily on top in Securities law. M&A is not as strong as some other firms. Obviously if you want to do environmental law Dpw is not right for you

4:38 - I'd say 5:09's estimate is right. Those same hours would get you more in other offices though. In Philly, Dechert's bonus will be as good as you can get. If the amount looks paltry, the solution is to go to a different market, not another firm in Philly.

lat, has gibson matched?

Anyone who volunatarily goes to S&C, Cravath, Skadden or Simpson should also be admitted to a mental asylum. DPW has far nice people than those firms, pays the same and has all the best corporate clients. You people have no idea what you're talking about.

5:08 - you clearly are not smart enough to have gotten an offer at dpw if you are working at skadden in nyc. enjoy your bottle of cristal.

hey 5:08, if you look at the past three years of stats provided by Harvard's career office, you'd see that Wachtell aside, DPW has had the highest acceptance rate of any ny firm. Harvard? Have you heard of it?

as a midlevel associate at DPW who lateraled from one of the "bright futures" firms, where most associates were miserable and unappreciated, i am confident that DPW's long-term prospects for recruiting talent and keeping big-name clients are as strong as, or better than, anyone else's.

and not just because the people here are attractive.

though that helps.

Milbank has matched.

From a reliable source: Milbank has matched.

lat, has gibson matched?

I recently got an offer from DPW. For some reason, with the offer letter, they send a book containing the bios of last year's summer class, with photos.
ALMOST EVERYONE WAS BUTT UGLY AND NERDY LOOKING.
If you want good-looking, see Latham LA, or numerous second tier firms nationwide. Firms populated largely by Ivies are bound to be filled with uglies.

Vault Based List of Shame -

(Wachtell ommitted because, come on, seriously, they got more than this in their mid-year bonus)

Vault Rank / Firm / 2005 RPL (if known)
1
2
3 Sullivan & Cromwell LLP / $1,627,000
4 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom / $997,000
5
6
7 Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP / $913,000
8 Latham & Watkins LLP / $875,000
9 Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP / $954,000
10 Covington & Burling LLP / $774,000
11 Kirkland & Ellis LLP / $987,000
12
13
14 Shearman & Sterling LLP / $992,000
15 Wilmer Cutler / 846,000
16 Williams & Connolly LLP /
17 Sidley Austin LLP / $774,000
18 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP / $1,011,000
19 O'Melveny & Myers LLP / $828,000
20 White & Case LLP / $600,000
21 Arnold & Porter LLP / $816,000
22 Jones Day / 602,000
23 Morrison & Foerster LLP / $735,000
24
25 Clifford Chance LLP /
26 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft / $940,000
27 Hogan & Hartson LLP / $735,000
28 Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP / $750,000
29 Fried, Frank, / $891,000
30 Ropes & Gray LLP / 841,000
31 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker / $766,000
32 Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP / $859,000
33 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP / $779,000
34 Winston & Strawn LLP / $718,000
35 Dewey Ballantine LLP / $782,000
36 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati / $752,000
37 Linklaters /
38 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe / 767,000
39 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP /
40 Proskauer Rose LLP / $745,000

* Note the RPLs I could find are a little dated, so that's changed in the last 2 years for some firms, and for CWT, pretty dramatically.

* Note that some/most of these firms might have bonuses tied to hours - an thus they might never match this bonus.

These DPW haters are insane. The institutional and corporate client base is growing ever so strong and recruiting is soaring.

DPW has an outstanding reputation as one of the best law firms in the US, with only firms like Cravath, S&C, Simpson and Skadden as peers. Of those firms, DPW has the reputation (very much deserved) of being the firm with the nice, civil and polite people.

I am amazed by the really good candidates that have been rejected this year.

Nearly one third of the 2007 summer class were from Harvard, and another one third from Columbia. And these were the top end of the classes.

Those of us lucky enough to work at DPW can only laugh at the haters that come out this time of year trying to convince themselves and others that DPW isn't the choice top law firm to work at in NYC. The timing makes sense because you just got your rejection letter in the mail. Which is what happens because we reject a lot of people that come for call backs. So now you are looking to make yourself feel better. And if I were you, I'd be upset too. You just lost your opportunity to work with the best clients, learn from the best partners (who you actually enjoy spending time around), work reasonable hours and actually like going to work every day. If any of the offerees out there believe what they read on a message board over the consistent positive things they hear from former summers and current associates then I don't think we'd want them anyway.

hey 5:31, any chance you could post that list of Harvard firm acceptance rates?

It is a good service you provide and the American way however there is one among you that finds a need to have affairs with another mans wife. Guesshe has far more time on his hands to do unrelated work activities. Makes me ill knowing the truth.