Biglaw, Bonuses, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, Money

Associate Bonus Watch: 'Substantially Below-Market' Bonuses At An Am Law 200 Firm

Litigators at this firm got below-market bonuses, and corporate associates fared even worse.

onJanuary 5, 2016 at 3:02 PMJanuary 5, 2016 at 10:01 PM

associate lawyer sad upset over her bonus needs help When we last wrote about bonuses at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, associates were pretty pleased. The firm matched the Cravath scale for bonuses, just as it does for base salaries, plus it paid a little extra to top performers.

But that was more than five years ago. Alas, times have changed at this Am Law 200 and NLJ 350 firm:

For the second year in a row, Curtis Mallet has paid substantially below-market bonuses to their associates. I think the partnership deserves some shame on your website.

While bonuses were communicated individually, I’ve spoken with a number of associates and have heard the following approximate amounts (all for litigation associates who billed well over the 2000-hour requirement — note that Curtis does count hours on pro bono and business development toward bonuses):

Junior associates: $5,000 to $20,000 below market
Midlevel associates: $15,000 to $20,000 below market
Senior associates: $30,000 to $40,000 below market

Last year the bonuses were even more sparse, but we have been super busy this year, especially in the litigation department.

We had major attrition last year as well — at one point the bankruptcy department was down to two total associates — which I expect to continue into the new year.

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From Pilot and Above The Law

A second source in litigation confirmed this general information and added a few additional observations:

In 2014, we were less busy than 2015 and the firm got caught by surprise by the Davis Polk scale, so people understood somewhat when bonuses came in below market.

This year, people are very annoyed by — or even angry about — the bonuses. We’ve been extremely busy this year in litigation, and the Cravath bonus scale was not a surprise. Our base salaries are market, so we were hoping that our bonuses would be too.

Associates in Corporate, which was even less busy, got even lower bonuses. Morale is low, which leads to attrition, which leads to lower morale.

On the issue of “shaming” the partnership, though, my understanding is that blame for the bonuses belongs to the firm’s top management, not to the partnership generally or to individual partners.

Regardless of who’s to blame, Curtis associates agree that these bonuses are a big disappointment. Associates hope the partners will make it rain the next time around — and not just two-dollar bills, but market-level bonuses.

Earlier: Associate Bonus Watch: Curtis Mallet Matches Cravath (With a Little Sweetener for Some)
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