Associate Bonus Watch: It's A 'Sin' To Make This Much Money

Do Biglaw bonuses create perverse incentives for associates?

I’m not saying that pay shouldn’t turn on hours, but bonuses should turn on value of which hours are just part.

Unless the firm makes exceptions, an associate who bills 2,000 hours, but whose creativity substantially enhances the value of the firm’s work and whose efficiency keeps costs low for clients, will get less than a plodder who bills 2,400 hours but whose work is ordinary … it sends all the wrong messages about work/life balance.

It’s a sin because it tells associates that value is measured solely by time when in fact value depends as well on creativity and efficiency. It’s also a sin because it discourages associates from spending time out of the office, with their families, children, hobbies.

— Professor Stephen Gillers of NYU Law, commenting to Bloomberg BNA’s Big Law Business that associate bonuses in Biglaw tend to create perverse incentives.

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