Associate Bonus Watch: Summer Bonuses At Cahill Gordon Once Again

How robust are they looking this year?

Last month, when we covered BuckleySandler’s midyear bonuses, we included a shout-out to Cahill Gordon. Cahill has paid out generous summer bonuses to its associates dating back to 2010, and we wondered whether the firm would continue the streak.

The answer: yes. Cahill just announced its latest summer bonuses. The timing is good, since rising 2Ls will soon be picking which firms to interview with during on-campus recruiting. (Note Cahill Gordon’s nice rise in the latest Vault 100 rankings, which are widely consulted by law students during the OCI process.)

How big are the Cahill midyear bonuses this time around?

We reached out to Cahill for comment. The firm confirmed its distribution of midyear bonuses, in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on seniority. “We are paying a mid-year bonus to our associates because we think they have contributed significantly to the firm’s success and we want to reward them for that,” said Jonathan Schaffzin, a Cahill partner and Executive Committee member.

Last year, our reporting indicated that the bonuses were $10,000 per associate, without regard to seniority. Query whether the shift in the scale this year, designed to reward seniority, reflects the high demand for seasoned associates (which we hear about regularly from our friends at recruiting firms like Kinney and Lateral Link).

The Cahill summer bonuses, while great news, are not surprising. The firm is doing very well. In the latest Am Law 100 rankings, the firm maintained its #3 spot (behind only Wachtell Lipton and Quinn Emanuel), with a magnificent $3.78 million in profits per partner — a healthy 6.3 percent increase over 2012.

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This year marks the fifth year in a row of Cahill summer bonuses. We’ve covered Cahill midyear bonuses in 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010.

Congratulations to Cahill on its continuing success, and congratulations to Cahill associates on their summer bonuses. The weather here in New York is very hot, but extra cash in the bank account is always cool.

UPDATE (6 p.m.): As noted in the comments, Cahill’s year-end bonus compensation is already above-market, so the midyear bonuses represent “just another dole from their ongoing, generous, associate-appreciating gravy train.” To read about Cahill’s year-end bonuses, which are paid out in December and January as “special” and “regular” bonuses, see this post.

Earlier: Associate Bonus Watch: Who Just Announced Midyear Bonuses?
Associate Bonus Watch: Cahill Summer Bonuses Are Back

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