Associate Support Staff Bonus Watch: Open Thread
We're sorry we don't have more associate bonus news to report. Unfortunately, we have to wait for it to happen; we can't just make it up.
So while we wait for more announcements -- it's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so we're hoping for some announcements in the afternoon -- let's talk about a related subject: staff bonuses.
In its bonus memo from earlier this month, Willkie Farr & Gallagher announced that it would be paying a special bonus to its administrative staff as well as its associates. And it turns out that Willkie is not alone. We're hearing that Weil, Gotshal & Manges is paying its support staff a special bonus as well.
The Weil special bonus equals one week's base salary. It will go to all support staff: "secretaries, paralegals, litigation support -- the whole nine yards."
The amount is not life-changing; at a week's salary, the bonus equals about 2 percent of base. But it's still a nice move, and something else for Weil paralegals to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
What other firms besides Willkie and Weil are paying special bonuses to staff? Feel free to discuss in the comments.
(38) Comments
when i was a paralegal i got a totally sweet $1,000 year-end bonus while my investment banking friends were raking in easily 50 times that, lulz
"special bonus" = Christmas gift to your secretary
Cravath sent a bonus memo out to support staff: 6% base pay. Triple what Weil paid.
No talks of any special bonus at S&C. Wouldn't be the first time that S&C lags behind when it comes to support staff
I'd like to give my secretary a "special bonus." Thoughts? It could be a very bad idea if she doesn't take it the right way, but my marriage is over, and I have MEN'S NEEDS!
This blog is ABOVE the Law.
Support staff are BELOW the Law.
Pathetic support staff -- be glad you have a job.
Scrooge
I heard Cravath gave all of its support staff free pony rides and rainbows, but that Wachtell gave everyone a bag of sunshine and the most precious gift of all -- the laughter of a child.
When will Lat stop catering to mediocre lawyers from mediocre backgrounds, the rest of us don't care about bonuses at firms where no one who did well at a decent school would consider working.
At least on Dealbreaker you don't see people freaking out because the bonuses at JPMorgan are $20K higher than at Bear Stearns. On the contrary, Bear Stearns is made fun of all the time on Dealbreaker for attracting mediocre bankers.
i heard Davis Polk is paying a weeks pay to its staff as a bonus
I'm guessing, not at Heller.
9:59 is an obvious douche bag troll.
staff's overall wages should be the minimum necessary to achieve the firm's maximum earnings. in other words, firms should pay just enough to get adequate staffing, but no more. you should note that partners are making this same analysis in determining associates overall compensation.
10:07: I am a troll because I don't care whether you make an extra $10K this year? The sad thing is that this blog used to have good stuff (LEWW, SCOTUS clerks, federal judges, etc.).
Alston & Bird bases its staff bonus on an ever-changing system of kiss-ass points. The more obsequious and sycophantic you are (and the more brazen you are in self-reporting), the higher the bonus. And for this, Fortune Magazine loves us! What a racket!
what are bonuses like in non-DC/chicago/NYC law firms, i.e. law firms in charlotte, atlanta, or dallas?
Skadden always pays a year-end bonus to its legal assistants, but no word on how much yet.
The truth is Lat decided to ditch the lawyers with elite backgrounds in order to get more viewership from mediocre lawyers who care about this stuff. This certainly worked to drastically increase ATL's readership, so we can't blame Lat for the move, but someone really needs to start a new blog for the types of people who used to read Underneath Their Robes because clearly with the 50 threads on salaries and no LEWW ATL does not live up to UTR.
Corporate Legal Assistants often bill out $160/hr; they often work as many hours as corporate associates. I see no reason that they should not receive a special bonus for the deals on which they also worked
At a big firm, paralegals start billing at 175 and go up to nearly 300/hour.
when i was a paralegal, i know i was billed out at $200/hr. i worked more hours than some of the associates and often did more advanced work than them. but in the end, we got chump change as a "bonus" while 1st-yr associates with no clue what they were doing got their prorated bonus many times ours. every little bit helped, but it was really an insult more than anything else. i guess thats why im in law school sigh
Bravo 9:57(2). Best ATL post I've seen in weeks.
Simpson's special bonus to support staff is two weeks salary
What firms don't give support staff at least a week's work worth of bonus?
Generally speaking I would assume AT LEAST that much at pretty much any professional firm (even small firms). Why should law firms be any different? All this post tells me is that the opposite is true, which I find very surprising! Great job Lat for at least putting the pressure on.
10:38 - paralegals may be able to work more hours than an associate, but i fail to see how you could do more "advanced work" as a paralegal than the vast majority of even first-year associates. In any event, i wouldn't trust a paralegal's assessment of the quality of "advanced work" he/she does.
Do firms pay bonuses to patent agents? or science advisors? Thanks!
I don't see anything wrong with a firm paying as much as they want for staff bonus, but let's get real here. Associate bonus is part of compensation. While firm compensation might be considered high by some, it reflects a large, up-front investment in the cost of legal education, as well as cost of living, and the fact that the firm basically owns all of your time, to use at its discretion. Sure, we usually get to sleep at night and take a weekend off here or there, but we are ALWAYS on call. Staff, on the other hand, receive a base salary plus overtime. There is no large student loan debt to pay off. Demands on staff are generally very low. There is no reason that the bonus for support staff at a law firm should be any different from that they would receive for similar work in a different industry. I include paralegals in that group. You already get a "special" bonus. It's called overtime.
11:25: I think that 10:38 had the impression that associates "with no clue" were clueless about technology, how arcane systems work etc. Paralegals may think that means the associates aren't as valuable, but really a comment like that just shows the huge gap between a paralegal's core competencies and what associates are (eventually) trained to do. Associates think. Paralegals do mechanical tasks. Some of these tasks may take a great deal of skill, but will become repetitive. Of course many things associates do are similarly repetitive, but the idea is that the ability to think critically (in a legal context) is there, somewhere, in the background. Ask a paralegal which way a particular doctrine might push next and they will (likely) have a blank stare on their face. Ask a top law school associate and after a bit of research you'll get a thought-out response. These are obviously generalizations, but I think some paralegals get a little too high on themselves that they know how to operate the computer/info systems and therefore that they have some superior ability.
Despite IP litigation's constant success, my IP only firm told us they would not be paying last year's special bonus of $500 ( on top of our usual bonus of about 1k).
For our department of 100, that's fifty grand. It doesn't mean a lot to you big-dick associates, but for me it means a lot, and only confirms what the lawyers on hear sound like: you guys are assholes.
SPECIAL BONUS
Willkie Farr - yes
Weil Gotshal - yes
Cravath - yes (6% base pay)
Davis Polk - yes
Simpson - yes (2 weeks)
12:27 apparently doesn't have much experience in other industries. Year-end bonuses are very common in many industries for non-exempt employees.
Moreover, firm compensation has nothing whatsoever to do with the up-front cost of your education or your cost of living (which your support staff has, too). It has everything to do with a competitive market for money-generating assets: i.e. associates.
anyone else?
anyone else?
Happy F*cking Thanksgiving. My law firm is a wannabe hole.
I was a Paralegal for a while at the DC office of Kaye Scholer. They have us between one and three weeks salary as a bonus and about a 7% pay in to our 401k, Which was nice - but as a law student the 20% fee to remove it sucks.
FYI - Paralegals get overtime - which is in many paychecks larger than our base pay.
Show me an associate who gets OT - and I will show you an associate who does not get a bonus at the end of the year. And an associates job I will try to take, love my new firm and all - but OT after 5pm - Hell Yes
Morgan & Finnegan is paying staff two weeks pay in bonus. Are the other IP boutiques paying this as well? IP work must still be good.
As a Weil secretary, the one week bonus is great - keep in mind, if you've worked here less than a year, it's pro-rated and taxed, leaving you with about enough to get some McDonalds for lunch.
Seyfarth's bonuses are a joke.You're lucky if you get $100 from them as a paralegal let alone administrative assistant. RIDICULOUS, especially for a firm that wants to be seen as a player. Even NY office bonuses are laughable.
You guys need to get a grip. Complain all you want about your bonuses - but you are also the first to complain when you don't have a paralegal or a secretary around to keep up with your crap during the day or during a closing. Grow up - just like the army, a bee hive, or any manufacturing facility - a law firm can't function without it's grunts - for those of you that don't get my last comment - I mean the paralegals and secretaries. Grow up - if you paid us what we are worth then your lives might be a lot easier and you can stop bitching about stingy salaries that are 4,5 or 6 times our base pay and your bonus that frequently exceeds our base pay. You want over time? Take our base pay and I will bet you get it! Moral to the story - beware of the paralegals and the secretaries - they are the ones that can make or break you!