Biglaw, Billable Hours, Bonuses, Money

Associate Bonus Watch: Muted Reaction At Latham & Watkins

How are Latham bonuses looking this time around? Here's the memo.

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LATHAM & WATKINS — MEMORANDUM — 2013 ASSOCIATE BONUSES

To: Associates
From: Associates Committee
Copies to: Partners and Counsel; LeeAnn Black
Date: January 24, 2014
Subject: 2013 Associate Bonuses

We are pleased to announce associate bonuses for 2013.

This year’s bonus model, summarily referred to below, is highly competitive and, as in prior years, reflects our philosophy of rewarding associates for their many contributions to our firm:

· We considered the number of hours worked by an associate when making our bonus allocations. We continued to pay bonuses at 1900 hours even though many of our competitors use higher hours thresholds for bonus eligibility.

· We considered the quality of an associate’s work as an important component of our bonus allocations.

· We credited all pro bono and approved knowledge management hours on the same basis as commercial client hours, credited a percentage of committee service, and, for those who met their billable hours budget, credited up to 100 hours of work on approved office projects.

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· We also took into account special contributions to the firm, such as excellent supervision, exceptional committee service and other outstanding efforts by associates that furthered the success of the firm.

· As in prior years, we decreased bonuses for performance and supervisory concerns and for violations of the firm’s timekeeping policies.

The following table provides additional information about our 2013 bonuses by class for full time/full year associates.

The chart on the next page reflects the distribution of bonuses by class for full time/full year associates.

As in past years, all associates – other than those in the class of 2013 and judicial clerks who joined the firm in 2013 without prior legal experience – are eligible for a bonus. We are careful to ensure that associates who work only a partial year receive the better of a prorated bonus or the bonus that their absolute hours would have produced.

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Associates receiving year-end bonuses will receive payment on January 31, 2014, net of taxes where applicable.

An Associates Committee member will contact you shortly to schedule your year-end conference. The Associates Committee will be conducting a presentation in each office about associate bonuses in the coming weeks to share further information. In the meantime, please contact any member of the Associates Committee if you have any questions.

DISTRIBUTION OF 2013 BONUSES

(Full Time/Full Year Associates)

Earlier: Associate Bonus Watch: Mixed Emotions at Latham & Watkins
Associate Bonus Watch: Latham Bonus Out, No Word on Spring Bonuses

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