Allen & Overy, Associate Bonus Watch 2007, Biglaw, Bonuses, Kramer Levin, Money, Skaddenfreude, Thacher Proffitt & Wood

Associate Bonus Watch: Monday Round-Up(Plus a Hint of a Base Salary Increase?)

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Bonus season is still with us, although it’s winding down. Announcements continue to trickle in, but at a reduced pace. Going forward, we will combine bonus info into omnibus posts that will go up periodically, depending on whether we have a critical mass of tips.
Here is today’s compilation of associate bonus news — plus a tantalizing email, from Allen & Overy, that raises the possibility of an associate pay raise.
1. Thacher Proffitt & Wood: TPW has been hit hard by the credit crisis. As we reported back in November, they may be laying off associates this month. But at least they’re still paying out bonuses to the folks who are still around:

TPW paid bonuses year end. No standard memo to all, so information is hard to come by. They paid market bonus ($35,000 for class of 2006) with an hours requirement.

There seem to be four tiers: 2100 hours = full bonus, 2000 hours = half bonus, 1900 hours = somewhere between a third and a fourth ($10,000 for class of 2006 associates), and below 1900 hours = no bonus.

2. McDermott Will & Emery. Here’s a follow-up to our prior post on MWE:

They are having a videoconference on the 15th with all associates to discuss compensation. In the meantime, they allegedly are continuing to monitor market data. It appears as if they will try and fix their initial misread of the market, but no one knows when, how or by how much. In some cities, peer firms’ bonuses [were] 3, 4 or 5 times MWE’s bonuses.

3. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel: We previously wrote about the Kramer Levin bonus announcement. Now comes this caveat:

Sneaky to state that everyone gets the special bonus at 2000 hours, but it’s not market. For example, a fourth-year will either get 80k for 2150 or 38k for 2000-2149.

The Kramer Levin memo appears after the jump.
4. Allen & Overy: This is not bonus news, but over at Allen & Overy — or should that be Allen & Oy-vey-ry? — an email went out before the new year telling associates that the firm probably “will not be able to announce associate/senior counsel salaries for 2008 before the year begins.” One source wonders:

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Have any other firms mentioned something like this? Do you think management knows something about a pending raise? Why wait, unless they have information about a possible raise?

Intriguing. We’ll keep you posted.


ALLEN & OVERY LLP — ASSOCIATE BONUS EMAIL
From: Shrank, Ian:BK (NY)
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 4:12 PM
To: Associate_New York; New York_Senior Counsel
Subject: 2008 Salaries
As we have done some years in the past, it appears very likely that we
will not be able to announce associate/senior counsel salaries for
2008 before the year begins. We will study the market and make this
decision as soon as we can, which we hope will be in time for your
first paycheck in January. Of course, if the decision occurs after
those paychecks, the adjustments will be retroactive to January 1.
Thanks very much for your patience.
Regards,
Ian
Ian Shrank
Partner
Allen & Overy LLP
www.allenovery.com
1221 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
KRAMER LEVIN NAFTALIS & FRANKEL — MEMORANDUM — 2007 SPECIAL AND YEAR-END MERIT BONUSES
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