Associate Bonus Watch: White & Case Follows Half-Skadden, Hints at ‘Above-Market’ Extra for ‘High Achievers’
White & Case, which recently laid off 70 people, has announced that they will pay half of what Skadden is offering.
But there is an interesting caveat:
The qualitative portion of each bonus (i.e., 25%) as well as above market bonuses for high achievers will be determined by section leaders.
So there is a chance at least that top billing mid-levels at White & Case can receive a larger bonuses than a first year at Skadden who bills 1600 hours. I wouldn’t call that fair, but at least it’s not horribly unfair.
Of course, the White & Case associates that are left after last month’s bloodletting are probably so happy to have a job that White & Case could have paid out bonuses in seashells and other assorted trinkets and people would have been happy.
Update (12:29): Hey, guess which law firm has the top billing rate. According to the National Law Journal … White & Case.
The most expensive hourly rate came from White & Case, which reported that the high end of its partner rate was $1,260 per hour. The firm’s average partner billing rate was $747 per hour. With 2,205 attorneys, White & Case is ranked No. 6 on the NLJ 250.In a written statement, White & Case said that the high end of its billing rates was “representative of only two potential billing scenarios for clients” and “[did] not take into account a number of key factors, including blended rates and rates negotiated with specific clients.”
Highest billing rate, Half-Skadden bonuses, I love this town.
Read the full White & Case bonus memo after the jump.
WHITE & CASE — MEMO — 2008 ASSOCIATE BONUSES
Earlier: Nationwide Layoff Watch: White & Case Brings Layoffs into the Vault Top 20
Prior ATL coverage of associate bonuses.
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Comments
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First!
Not first!
TTThird
are you really going to post every bonus announcement?
Tools....
Isn't the 25% "qualitative" portion just a way for W&C to pay less than the figures listed in the table?
.......crickets boni........
You know what cheers me up when I'm feeling shitty? Rolled up aces over kings.
11:30 - That's what ATL did last year - post every bonus announcement.
Even though the announcements are all the same, people use these posts as an opportunity to gossip about their firms in the comments.
Rodge Cohen is driving us crazy over here! He's sent out three memos this morning...of course none having anything to do with our bonus!
- S&C Associate
"seashells and other assorted [TTT]rinkets"?
Notice the 2000 hour minimum. While a Skadden associate at 1600 hours will the full bonus, a W&C associate will get nothing.
Is Elie now accepting the fact that Cravath is market? He used to say Skadden was market.
8, nice Rounders quote. Let's go to AC.
@8
Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker
I may be wrong, but the whole reason for this blog is to gossip about big law comp.
Bloomberg reports that Marc Dreier is being sued by Wachovia for $9 million.
you have to hit 1700 billable plus 300 probono/firm chargeable - I think it was a reachable target for 2008...
While I guess some "high achievers" could get extra bonuses, the "25% qualitative" portion of the bonus sounds like most associates will get as much as 25% less than the standard "half-Skadden" amount.
People keep posting about Skadden's 1600 hour requirement. That seems absurdly low to me, considering I'm in a regional market with lower comp and a 1900 billable hour requirement.
Please tell me that, regardless of stated minimums, Skadden associates are toiling away much longer than me to make that big coin, right? What is the average # of hours billed there?
You lay off a sh*t ton of people AND you don't give full bonus. Something's not right.
You people all need to spend some time talking with Jesus.
Saaaaaaaaved byyyyyyyyyy zeeeeeeeeeeeeerooooo.
SAVED BY ZERO!!
SAVED BY ZERO!!
BigLaw is dead.
-Nas
He beat me.
Straight up.
Pay that man his money.
Saaaaaaaaved byyyyyyyyyy zeeeeeeeeeeeeerooooo.
SAVED BY ZERO!!
SAVED BY ZERO!!
BigLaw is dead.
-Nas
20--1600 really is the minimum, and you will make bonus if you get that, but it's fairly unusual for even slacker associates to bill less than 2000/2100. I'd say the average is 2300 or so.
how about white & case DC?
Skadden is still first in line to wipe the Ass Cravath when the need arises, usually around 1:30 pm.
SEVENTY! SEVENTY LAYOFFS!!
And still only half bonus!! AH AH AH AH AH!!!!!!
If they had no layoffs, there would be even less bonus to count! AH AH AH!!!
- Count Layoffula
"how about white & case DC?"
Worse situation than Skadden DC. If you don't know what's up at Skadden SC, see many prior comments on ATL.
and here I thought the Skadden SC (sic) trolls had found something useful to do
This 75/25% deal is consistent with previously announced (in April) policies. It means that all those associates who bill at least 2000, at least 1800 of which are client chargeable, will get at least 75% of standard bonus, with the remaining 25% based on a qualitative assessment of their work. The flip side is that there is also the possibility of an additional 25% above market bonus, based 75/25 on quantitative/qualititative assessment.
Thus:
Bill 1799 chargeable and 701 pro bono/other firm chargeable (i.e., 2500 total): $0 bonus.
Bill 1800 chargeable and 199 other (i.e., 1999 total): $0 bonus.
Bill at least 1800 chargeable and 200 other:
* 75% of market, plus the other 25% based on the quality of your work; PLUS
* The possibility of an additional 25% overmarket bonus, based 75/25 on (a) how far over 2000 your aggregate hours are and (b) how good your work is.
The April announcement also said that the long term plan is to move all of the above ratios from 75/25 to 50/50, as the Firm's efforts to improve the performance review system are implemented to make qualitative assessments more reliable. The announced statement is that (notwithstanding ordinary fluctuations in the definition of "market bonus") the revisions to the bonus policy are intended to have no effect on the total amount of dollars paid out in associate bonuses, but rather to incrementally break from the lockstep model in order to create the appropriate incentives to associates for high performance on both a quantitative and qualitative basis.
good one, 26.
Who will wipe Skadden DC's ass now that they are homeless? Venable?
Comment feature does not appear to be working in Internet Explorer.
It's back in IE now.
20 - average associate hours at Skadden (firm-wide) are in the 2000 range. The number of hours per associate varies widely depending on the individual associate, practice group, year, office, etc.
34 - I'm at Skadden DC, and I intend to wipe my ass with some of the extra bonus $$ I receive this year.
On second though, maybe I'll use that $$ to hire someone to do it for me. Are you still looking for work since Skadden DC rejected you?
34 - I'm at Skadden DC, and I intend to wipe my ass with some of the extra bonus $$ I receive this year.
On second thought, maybe I'll use that $$ to hire someone to do it for me. Are you still looking for work since Skadden DC rejected you?
34 - I'm at Skadden DC, and I intend to wipe my ass with some of the extra bonus $$ I receive this year.
On second thought, maybe I'll use that $$ to hire someone to do it for me. Are you still looking for work since Skadden DC rejected you?
i still have no idea what a half-skadden is. seriously, if you keep making this an "insider" website, people are (i am) going to stop reading.
GULCing on a secretary's chair
Is as much fun as in her hair
why hasn't cahill announced????
41:
half-skadden = 1/2 of what the Skadden bonus is.
math!
Clicking "Prior ATL coverage of associate bonuses" link probably would have gotten you that info.
fail!
44: you are a tool - that guy was obviously joking. I hope.
26 - I call BS. Most associates in Big Law don't bill more than 2000. They just like to bitch and moan because those 2000 hours come at the most inconvenient times: 3:00a.m., week-ends, holidays, vacation etc. And the bberry is a real bitch...
41, please do. too many damn students on this site.
I don't understand this formula -- so 25% can be above market, meaning what? So a class of '06 earns 15K based on hours, and then the other 5,000 can be anything?
2400 hour billers deserve something mother fucking extra on top of the disgusting bonuses cravath set. That could be more money or hand relief from Evan Chesler, but they should get something.
46 -
Thank you. At last someone speaks some sense on this ridiculous nation of crazy hours. Everyone (especially law students!!), please read this:
In a good year (say, 2006), the AVERAGE corporate associate at a top 10 NY law firm bills about 1900-2000. Yes, there ARE associates who bill 2800, and there ARE associates who bill 1600. But the AVERAGE is around 1900-2000. I get this not only from anecdotal evidence, but from partners.
People who boast about "everyone billing 2500 hours" and "only slackers bill less than 2000" are LYING.
Think about it rationally - if EVERYONE bills 2400 in NY, why would law firms who have hours requirements impose such a "LOW" requirement of 2000? Going by what people here boast about, surely only "above average associates" (i.e., billing 2500+) should be eligible for a bonus!
Please, please - stop spreading these silly scare-mongering rumors.
- Mid-level, v5
What I find ironic about this whole thing, is that despite my many talents and disdain for unskilled lawyers, it took a douche in a pinstripe suit to make your bonuses dissapear.
Like MAGIC!
51: truly awesome. Because magic is an illusion. And illusion . . . [wait for it] . . . is magic.
notice that the memo was sent only to NY associates; what about other offices? W&C in NY is very different than its other offices.
50, I agree. Also, what we have is confirmation bias. People remember the high-hour weeks much more vividly than the low-hour weeks.
50 and 54 - my thoughts exactly. I would add that this year, we can probably bring those numbers down by 20% across the board (on average).
50 and 54 - my thoughts exactly. I would add that this year, we can probably bring those numbers down by 20% across the board (on average).
"the revisions to the bonus policy are intended to have no effect on the total amount of dollars paid out in associate bonuses, but rather to incrementally break from the lockstep model in order to create the appropriate incentives to associates for high performance on both a quantitative and qualitative basis."
32 -- you really believe this?
Without document review, travel, or researching for a blank-check client, getting more than 2000 hours is difficult.
58: corporate or litigation? 2000 for litigation is cake without any blank-check client. I would be hard pressed to go that low.
you know what they say in the poker game of life women are the rake.
New York partner here. I see over on Bloomberg that Ace Greenberg is quoted as saying "[t]here is no more Wall Street".
Wall Street drove associate salaries sky high. Now it's gravity's turn. Sure the best will still get six figure bonuses, but all the overpaid lawyers who were never more than glorified clerical help are about to see their salaries reach terminal velocity. Be prepared.
W&C -- the WC of law firms.
59: The difference between litigation associates and corporate associates is that Lit guys get to come in to work at 9 and immediately begin billing. If you leave at 6, chances are better that you've billed at least 7 hours that day. Corporate schedules are not at all like that. Sometimes a corporate guy can sit in the office all day waiting for the client to go over a deal, and won't get anything back until 3 or 4 pm. That's when their days start. In times like this, it's much harder for a corporate guy to find "busy work" such as filing a motion that only has a 25 or 30% chance of success and that only serves to up an associate's billables. Corporate guys don't get the luxury of bullshit discovery motions practice.
63: well, for that and other obvious reasons, sucks to be a corporate associate. not sure what firm you work at, but i've never filed a motion that we thought had less than 50% chance of winning. we avoid frivolous motions, although you are correct that some firms do not.
50: The reason the hours requirement at most biglaw shops is so low was in response to a memo that some Clifford Chance associates wrote in which they criticized their firm's hours requirement in that, among other things, a higher billable threshhold was encouraging padding of hours, etc. There was a backlash by clients and most if not all biglaw firms lowered the minimum billable requirement for purposes of determining bonuses.
See http://www.lawcost.com/clifchancememo.htm.
50: Associates at Clifford Chance wrote a memo (see http://www.lawcost.com/clifchancememo.htm). The suggestion that the high billable requirement encouraged padding was not received well by clients (not just CC's clients but clients of all biglaw shops). The result was that minimum billables were dropped for purposes of bonus eligibility.
50: Associates at Clifford Chance wrote a memo (see http://www.lawcost.com/clifchancememo.htm). The suggestion that the high billable requirement encouraged padding was not received well by clients (not just CC's clients but clients of all biglaw shops). The result was that minimum billables were dropped for purposes of bonus eligibility.
Associates at WC in Hong Kong got no bonus this year!
Associates at WC in Hong Kong got no bonus this year!
Associates at WC in Hong Kong got no bonus this year!
Associates at WC in Hong Kong got no bonus this year!