Associate Bonus Watch: Another Firm Beats The Market!

You could easily say that this firm is minting money for its associates. Which firm could it be?

Ever since Davis Polk & Wardwell beat the Simpson Thacher bonus scale, we’ve reported a seemingly endless list of law firms that have followed the market’s marching orders and announced bonus matches on the generous DPW scale.

There are, of course, some outliers on either end of the scale. For example, while Gibson Dunn’s Orange County outpost perhaps purposefully clings to the now-underwhelming STB scale and a handful of firms that previously announced bonuses on the STB scale have yet to announce true-ups to the DPW scale, other firms like Cahill Gordon (three rounds of bonus payouts) and Boies Schiller (bonuses of up to $350K) have served up bonuses that have beaten the market, and then some.

Today, we’ll be reporting on yet another firm that’s an outlier on the bonus market, but in a very, very good way. In fact, you could easily say that this firm is minting money for its associates. Which Biglaw firm could it be?

It’s none other than Susman Godfrey, one of the most impressive litigation boutiques in the country. Year after year, the firm offers up breathtakingly beautiful bonuses to its associates. Last year, in an interview with founding partner Stephen Susman, he revealed the reasons why his firm treats its associates with such care:

“Big firms tend to give bonuses completely lockstep by law school graduation year,” Susman said. “But that method just views associates as replaceable cogs and rewards them for surviving another year. It doesn’t even try to reward associates for the real value they’ve brought to their cases or the effort they’ve put in this past year.” …

Within each partnership class, Susman explained, “we look at the associates individually and reward truly outstanding efforts and achievements.” …

“We’re happy to reward our associates for the role they play in SG’s continued success,” he added. “But our associates don’t come here just for the money. They come here because we’re not afraid to give real courtroom experience to our associates from day one. And they come here because, unlike other firms, we’re not afraid to make equity partners.”

All of Susman’s praise for his associates leaves us with just one question: how big were this year’s bonuses? We hope you’re sitting down before reading this, because otherwise you might faint. Here’s the good news, courtesy of Law360 (sub. req.):

The firm told Law360 on Tuesday that first-years will take home bonuses of at least $40,000, with [associates who have been with the firm for two years] taking home at least $65,000, [associates who have been with the firm for three years] receiving upward of $85,000 and associates who have been with the firm at least four years nabbing payouts as much as $110,000.

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Susman Godfrey’s 2014 bonus scale is even higher than its 2013 bonus scale, and needless to say, Susman’s bonuses absolutely trounce the Davis Polk bonus scale that everyone’s been following. Because all Susman Godfrey associates are required to clerk for at least a year before joining the firm, let’s treat the most-junior partnership class at Susman as DPW’s “class of 2012.” The comparable amounts under the Davis Polk scale to the numbers provided above are $25K, $50K, $65K, $80K. So Susman is basically paying amounts well above the DPW scale. Game, set, match.

Congratulations to Susman Godfrey associates on yet another year of splendiferous bonuses. Forty to more than one hundred grand in bonus payouts will ensure lots of overstuffed stockings this holiday season.

P.S. If we missed your firm’s bonus announcement, feel free to email us or text us (646-820-8477). We always appreciate an actual bonus memo, so please send one if you can. Thanks a bunch!

Susman Godfrey Goes Big With Associate Bonuses [Law 360 (sub. req.)]

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