Associate Bonus Watch: A Laggard From Last Year Makes Amends
After its 2014 bonuses generated "anger and disappointment," this firm upped its game in 2015.
In 2014, Jenner & Block enjoyed an excellent year. Thanks to matters like Anton Valukas’s investigation into GM’s ignition switch problems and Neil Barofsky’s oversight of Credit Suisse, which kept scores of Jenner lawyers on the road and on the clock, the firm notched healthy increases in revenue per lawyer and profits per partner. In fact, last year Jenner boasted the biggest jump in revenue per lawyer in the Am Law 100 (23 percent). So when it paid out 2014 bonuses that were below market (as defined by the Davis Polk scale), associates reacted with anger and disappointment.
This year, following in the footsteps of other firms who decided not to repeat bonus mistakes of 2014, Jenner announced a bonus structure that beats the market (as defined by the Cravath scale). Eligible associates — basically associates who perform up to standards and hit 2100 hours (note that Jenner takes a generous approach in counting qualifying hours, e.g., it counts all pro bono hours) — will get bonuses according to the following scale:
As you can see, the low end of the range basically corresponds to the Cravath scale, except as to the class of 2009 (where the Cravath amount is $90,000), and the average bonus slightly beats the Cravath scale. Considering that Jenner hasn’t historically been a compensation leader — it leads instead in areas like diversity and pro bono — this seems to me like very good news.
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Also good news: Jenner is paying out the bonuses earlier, “by the end of the calendar year.” That’s nice to hear — especially for associates looking to lateral in 2016.
The Jenner memo, which went out yesterday, simply outlined the firm’s general approach to bonuses; individual bonus memos will arrive on Monday. If you’re a Jenner associate, feel free to email us or text us (646-820-8477) after you get your individual bonus news and let us know how you feel. If we receive enough reactions, maybe we’ll do a follow-up.
In the meantime, Jenner associates, congrats on the handsome bonus scale, and have a good weekend.
(Flip to the next page to read the Jenner & Block bonus memo in full.)
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