DLA Piper Previews the 2009 Bonus Season
It’s the first Monday in October. There is a chill in the air, the Yankees and Red Sox are gearing up for the post-season (while the Mets mercifully go away), and the hearts and minds of Biglaw associates turn to their year-end bonuses.
Some have predicted a “no bonus” season, courtesy of the Great Recession. But DLA Piper has given Above the Law the first concrete bonus information of the season, and bonuses will be paid.
Associates at DLA Piper were informed on Friday that while this year’s bonus won’t meet last year’s half-Skadden levels, the firm will be paying bonuses this year. Sources report that DLA’s bonus will come in between $5,000 and $50,000. A tipster reported the news this way:
I’m just finishing up my first full calendar year at DLA. I’ve got a job, I’ve got a bonus. I’ve got all my life to live, I’ve got all my love to give. I WILL SURVIVE.
Congratulations.
DLA won’t make a final decision until January. But as of now, we have a market floor for bonuses, and it is greater than zero! That is pretty awesome.
Other good news from DLA Piper after the jump.
There is actually a lot of positive news emanating from DLA Piper. The firm recently finished its offer process, and it made offers to 55 of 64 summer associates. That’s an 86% offer rate, and a lot better than what we’ve seen at some other firms this fall.
Meanwhile, DLA’s intention to share some wealth with employees come bonus time is not limited to DLA associates. On Friday, DLA Piper staffers also found out that they would be getting a bonus this year too. In addition, the firm plans to resume merit-based salary increases for the staff next summer.
This news closes the loop on a challenging 2009, but DLA Piper is already looking ahead to 2010. Like a few other firms, DLA is looking at moving towards a “competancy-based” compensation model in 2010. The firm is still working out the details and going through the process of taking comments from its partners and associates.
But that will be next year’s bonus issue. For this year, $5,000 to $50,000 has to look like Rudolph’s big red nose cutting through the fog of recession. Bonuses will be paid this year.
In the comments, share your thoughts on where you think the bonus market is going to end up.
(66) Comments
Comments
BCLS FIRST
When are the incoming associates starting at DLA?
amazing how with all of the bashing of DLA on this blog, they continue to thrive.
Good positive PR. However, absent from this article is what is the criteria beign used. It is nice that bonuses are being paid, but in a firm where only 40% of associates get a bonus in a good year, what can we really expect here?
bonus! bonus! we in a recession and you talking bout bonus!
First things first: I am first.
5: Jim Mora, Sr.
This post is puerile drivel until JaKe Emeritus comments.
Didn't they slash to 145? So this is really meaningless for a firm that stayed at 160.
what WHAT?
Good PR spin. Unfortuantely, means nothing specific. DLA has always paid the bonus and the maount to only the select ppl they wanted to (a weird mix of hours and "merit" that always seemed thrown together ad hoc).
Piper at the gates of pwn.
The best way to read ATL is to follow these steps (IN ORDER):
(1) Ignore the post.
(2) Go to comment section.
(3) Scroll through comments until you see JaKe Emeritus avatar.
(4) Prepare to be amused, entertained and/or enlightened.
(5) Be amused, entertained and/or enlightened.
(6) Repeat.
Comment removed by moderator.
2 - lookie here http://abovethelaw.com/2009/07/dla_piper_pushes_back_current.php
Not bad. Better than nothing. If my firm is similar, I would be happy. And even happier since i'll be on the high end of that scale thanks to Chrometa which lets me track all my time and bill for every second. It is amazing how much time I forgot to bill without it. Check out its free trial. It's slick.
http://www.chrometa.com
good thing ATL doesn't use a “competancy-based” compensation model. elie would go hungry.
uh, as a poster above pointed out, they cut associate salaries by 10% across the board in may. so this really is not a bonus. elie, for all your incessant trolling for that tired "half-skadden" meme, you need to use that big ol' brain of yours to call them like they are, and stop just playing into firms' PR spin. DLA Piper screwed associates (both with salary cuts and layoffs) and now it's trying to pretend like it's an industry leader in pay. jesus, it's your job to see through this b.s.
This means nothing. They will require impossibly unrealistic hours for the vast majority of bonuses and most associates will get nada.
For other California firms (with the exception of Quinn), they're more likely to think "Boned Us" instead of bonus.
-QR
Only a $5,000 bonus? What a paltry sum; I would effortlessly expend that in one sojourn to a banana republic via chartered plane. Only a lethargic and inane chump would be pleased with such a contemptible "bonus."
Sutherland no offers RIGHT NOW! get on it!
20: i want my bagels back
Very good point by 18.
22, Kiefer or Donald?
Do you believe in miracles, DLA Piper?
23: I would give some to you, but NONE REMAIN
Guys in my high school used to get $5,000 bonuses all the time. It was no big deal. Seriously though- 5k? What a frickin joke. That wouldnt even pay for a vacation.
Bonuses will be "between $5,000 and $50,000." Translation: One person will get a $50,000 bonus, everyone else that is in good standing will get $5,000.
"No final decision on bonueses until January" Translation: We need more time to fire people to reduce cost of bonus program.
This is not good news, this is news of yet another round of salary cutting and layoffs disguised as good news.
28 -
Really? 5K isn't enough for a vacation? Have you looked at prices lately? Fuck, you could take an entire family to Disney World for 5k these days. Jackass.
30-
Maybe in coach
28
This post is addressed to Commetner #30:
Only the wretched middle class vacations in Disney World. Grow up, bairn.
What's more, 18, it was Elie himself who covered the cuts back in May. All he had to do was go to the archive.
30, after taxes it's about $2600. No, you can't take a family of 5 to Disney World on vacation anywhere nice in Orlando for more than 3 days for that amount of money.
STEPTOE AND JOHNSON IS A TOILET FIRM!!!
WHERE ARE THE OFFERS??? WHERE ARE THE OFFERS???
STEPTOE AND JOHNSON IS A TOILET FIRM!!!
WHERE ARE THE OFFERS??? WHERE ARE THE OFFERS???
JaKe strikes again.... as always, entertaining.
I am at an LA firm having a great year (possibly best year ever) and most people in the 2nd and 3rd year classes are billing >1900 hours. I think there will be a lot of angst around here if the bonuses are closer to 5k than 50k.
34 - there is nowhere "nice" in Orlando. Absolutely no reason to go to the only big Florida city without a beach (aka, the only reason to go to Florida).
37 = EPIC FAILURE IN LIFE THAT LAUGHS AT IDIOTIC POSTS.
If you get $5,000 in bonus, that's what you get for browsing Facebook during work hours.
You are an inane and dilatory loser.
13 = 21 = 32 = 37.
It's sad really.
Doc review is great work if you can find it. Nothing beats clicking your days away with no stress or worries. Of course, if you find yourself one of those horrible projects that stop and start and are otherwise unstable, then it becomes a little stressful.
But generally doc review rocks, and allows you the opportunity to build capital and plan for your future.
isn't this about the time of year that firms start giving their annual lock-step increases to associates? have any firms done so yet? are the raises any different than previous years?
How can a firm that CUT ASSOCIATE PAY now get any positive pr for announcing a bonus (especially one that starts at a paltry $5,000)?! Shouldn't the firm at least pay market rate first?! This press release is laughable. And so is DLA.
Where's that asshole with those annoying, repeated DLA Piper bashing comments now? For those of you who haven't seen it started in Feb, is posted every time DLA is on this blog and goes something like this: DLA bad business model ... blah ... blah .... dissolving ... merged with every small firm ... blah ... blah. What do you have to say now? Sorry you didn't get an offer. Die in a fire. Lockstep is dead, reward those who actually make money for the firm like every other business. Its about time.
46 -- here I am -- and, oh, by the way, everything I said still obviously holds true. Please see the posts above. DLA is a sinking ship. Do you not remember, THEY CUT ASSOCIATE PAY (in addition to cutting everything else). There's a reason why the crap firms that they merged with were crap firms. There's a reason why clients are refusing to pay their bills and going elsewhere. There's a reason why their #1 rainmaker (Amy Schulman) left the firm. It's a crap place with no management. A place that wanted to be "global" so they merged with anyone that would take them. NO QUALITY CONTROL at all, and horrible lawyers as a result. Now you expect your firm to be praised for saying they'll give 5k - 50k to the people they decide to give it to (with no set standards at all) -- AFTER THEY ALREDY CUT EVERYONE'S PAY! Ha!!! Go away you tool. Schill for your beloved firm someplace else!
44 - I believe you're thinking of January.
47 -
You still have not addressed whether your bitterness is because you were laid off or rather because you were never even offered a job. Please respond, I am dying to know.
- 46
Hey 45, what's your firm doing regarding bonuses and salary increases? Please let us know, instead of bashing other firms that at least have the huevos to announce where they are going.
I think you can only evaluate this bonus news in light of:
(1) how many people actually get bonuses closer to 50k than 5k, b/c that's a huge range, and
(2) the across the board DLA salary cuts that took effect this summer (and then compare to bonuses at firms that did not cut base salary)
In other words, go beyond the press release.
46 -- please respond to the arguments and refrain from trying to figure out my identity, background or motive. (The same way I could care less whether you're a DLA partner, h.r. person, or associate -- my background similarly shouldn't matter.) Facts are all that matter here. And the fact is, DLA is a sinking ship. The crap firms that DLA merged with would have given their nuts to merge with a Wachtell, S&C, Davis Polk, etc. There's a reason those firm DON'T merge with podunk, crap firms the way DLA did -- it's called quality control. How can you possibly control the quality of your lawyers (something a peer firms obviously put a premium on) when you merge with EVERY FIRM THAT WILL TAKE YOU?! It's laughable. My only mistake was mentioning DLA in the same breath as any respectable firm. Why would a partner with a book of business not go to a firm that puts a premium on quality control and he knows there will be associates to truly handle his matters? Why would an assoicate with any options stay or go to DLA when there are firms that will pay that person more and treat him or her better? And why would a client with any smarts at all bring or keep its business at DLA when there are a ton of firms that could do better work for the same $$, and even more that can do the same work for less $$? Answer none would. Which is why DLA has had to slash its overhead. Which is why DLA is sinking. Have fun with your 5k "bonus" -- whether my firm gives me a "bonus" or not, my MARKET RATE is already higher than your base salary and "bonus" -- and I'm at a firm that is not a sinking ship like DLA. Bye bye DLA.
Dear 50: you're an idiot. I'm here at DLA with you. I'm just surprised that our firm is getting good p.r. spin for a so called "bonus" after the firm took away a huge chunk of my money in the beginning of the year. If you're happy with this announcement, and happy with your base pay and the way the firm treats us, then you're either a partner or an idiot. Either way, I'm sorry I have to share 1251 6th Ave. with you.
-45
I'm glad that the result of the junior partners who were forced to equitize or leave, deferred associates, reduced salaries and layoffs have lead to a meager bonus for those left standing. I reject your spin, DLA Piper.
and i JIZZ IN MY PANTS
To the person with a death wish for DLA Piper - 47?, 52? - how can DLA continue be a sinking ship if they can actually afford to give any amount of bonus?
DLA, like every other firm, was in trouble given the economic climate. DLA was leaking, and so it cut those same crap lawyers that you said it had when all the firms merged in the first place. You can supposedly argue that every one at every one of those firms were crap, but then how did those firms stay around for as long as they did, and how did they have the capital to create a global mega-firm?
No, while your argument about too many bad lawyers taken in with the good had weight prior to the economic collapse, you're kidding yourself if you think DLA didn't use the layoffs as a way to cut the dead weight.
Now that they have, lo and behold, they might actually be on solid economic footing! Enough to give a bonus! So, sorry to tell you, the ship isn't sinking.
And I'm truly sorry if you were in the dead weight that got cut, but from your own argument, you had it coming.
Pay market rate before you trumpet giving a discretionary $5,000 bonus.
David Saint Hubbins = Worst ATL Character
What is DLA's point value? My firm just finished its fiscal year. While the partners are patting themselves on the back for keeping the point value within 10% of 2008, I'm thinking about all the staff and attorneys that were laid off or pushed out. Did you really have to ruin so many careers just to keep your own income from dropping more than 10%?
47 / 52 -
I'm not trying to reveal your secret identity (paranoid much?) but you have posted another 500 word bitter post and still have failed to deny you are a laid off / rejected associate. So I'm pretty sure now that you did not leave the "sinking ship" on your own terms. I hope you have found a job, I truly do, but bitterness is not constructive. I understand you are frustrated, but the horse is dead. Move on. Let me enjoy a piece of good news in an otherwise bleak year.
- 46
Better than nothing.
Better than nothing.
please, just give me back my fucking soda and bagels?
The big banks will pay much larger than expected bonuses this year. Expect junior banking associates to get between $100K and $200K bonuses. You heard it here first.
I just want to wish Justice Ginsburg good luck, we're all counting on her
64 - that's good news, right? Let's face it -- wall street is the only reason we ever saw starting salaries of $160,000 in the first place.