Biglaw, Bonuses, Money

Associate Bonus Watch: Skadden Does Its Thing

Senior associates are eligible for some amounts above the Cravath scale, but this was the case last year.

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Good news for those handsome and stylish Skadden Arps lawyers who appeared in a recent New York Times fashion slideshow: they can afford to buy a few more suits.

But no more suits than their counterparts at Cravath and Simpson (subject to exceptions we’ll discuss below). Skadden just announced its bonuses, and they appear to follow the Cravath scale.

As longtime followers of bonus coverage know, Skadden does not issue a universal bonus memo listing every associate class and their bonus. Instead, a memo from executive partner Eric Friedman goes out to each class stating the applicable bonus for that particular class. We’ve confirmed Cravath matches for the classes of 2014, 2013, 2010, and 2007, which suggests matching up and down the scale. A Skadden source informs us:

Skadden bonuses are out. The firm is conservative after getting burned in 2008, so you won’t find your market leader here. I do believe there is an additional discretionary amount for sixth-year associates and above.

Yes, that’s correct. We’ve confirmed that high-performing Skadden associates from the class of 2009 and up are eligible for an extra 10 percent on top of what they’re entitled to under the Cravath scale (i.e., 10 percent more on top of $90,000 or $100,000). It’s not as exciting as you might think, though, since Skadden did this last year (although note that it added sixth-year associates to the discretionary bonus program; last year it started with seventh-years). After tax, the extra money could probably buy two to four more suits, depending on one’s tastes.

Here are a few more reactions from Skaddenites:

  • “Hoping for a little more but not surprised. It has been a really busy year for just about everyone, so a drop from last year would have been tough to take.”
  • “Was hoping for a larger tip (given that we’re not getting a pay raise this year).”

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So another member of the Fab Five has fallen in line behing Cravath. Once Davis Polk and Sullivan & Cromwell weigh in, we can declare the scale to be set.

UPDATE (1:37 p.m.): This post was revised shortly after publication to clarify that eligibility for an extra 10 percent in bonus money expanded down to sixth-year associates (i.e., the class of 2009). In 2014, it started with seventh-year associates.

UPDATE (12/16/2015, 2:30 p.m.): We’ve added the memo to the class of 2009, which explains that members of that class are eligible for the “differentiated bonuses” that last year started with seventh-year associates. The standard bonus for the class of 2009 is $90,000, but “[s]ome associates in this class will receive a bonus of $100,000 in recognition of extraordinary performance and intensity of effort.”

(Flip to the next page for (1) the template of the general bonus memo and (2) the bonus memo sent to the class of 2009, both from Eric Friedman.)

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