Associate Bonus Watch: The First Cravath Matches

These two firms were the first matchers last year as well.

Money FanThat didn’t take long. Cravath Swaine & Moore announced bonuses shortly before 3 p.m. (EST), and now, less than three hours later, we have two top Biglaw firms matching the CSM scale.

Interestingly enough, they’re the two firms that matched first last year. In 2015, Milbank Tweed matched Cravath in half an hour, and less than three hours later, we had a match from Paul, Weiss.

In 2016, the two firms have switched places. The bonus memo of Paul, Weiss went out shortly after 4:30 p.m., while the bonus memo of Milbank went out shortly before 5:30 p.m.

Flip to the next page to see both bonus memos. The Paul, Weiss bonuses will be paid on December 23; the Milbank bonuses will be paid on December 30. These dates are slightly later than the Cravath payout date of December 16, which might be annoying from a holiday shopping perspective, but it’s not a huge difference.

Congratulations, Milbank and PW associates, on the nice year-end bonuses!

Remember: as soon as your firm’s bonus memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus”). We always keep our sources on bonus stories anonymous. There’s no need to send the memo using your firm email account; your personal email account is fine. Please be sure to include the memo as proof; we like to post complete bonus memos as a service to our readers. You can take a photo of the memo and attach as a picture if you are worried about metadata in a PDF or Word file. You can also text us if you prefer, at 646-820-8477.

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UPDATE (5:54 p.m.): In 2015, Milbank announced that bonuses would be paid “on or before January 15, 2016,” so a December 30 pay date is an improvement. [Actually, see the 6:32 p.m. update below — Milbank paid in December last year.] Paul, Weiss paid its 2015 bonuses on December 18, so December 23 is later, but only slightly.

UPDATE (6:02 p.m.): From a PW source:

  • “Unsurprised but pleased. The firm has made clear that it is devoted to paying top of the market, so anything other than this would have been a huge shock.”

And from Milbank sources:

  • “Totally as expected. Never really any doubt in my mind that a market leader would came back with the same bonuses as las year and that Milbank would quickly match.”
  • “Everyone expected bonuses to stay flat and people are generally pleased with the announcement, but there certainly was a sense of false hope that one of the leaders would raise and as always, Milbank would follow.”
  • “Very happy. The firm is having a strong year all around. It’s nice to work at a Biglaw shop that makes an affirmative effort to ensure its associates always know they will match market without drama or fine print.”

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UPDATE (6:32 p.m.) We have been advised that despite announcing a January 2016 payday for its 2015 bonuses, Milbank actually paid them at the end of December 2015 (as communicated to associates in an email from the Executive Committee sent on December 18, 2015, which we have reviewed).

(Flip to the next page for the memos, from Brad Karp of Paul Weiss and Scott Edelman of Milbank.)

Earlier: Associate Bonus Watch: Cravath Announces Its 2016 Associate Bonuses!
Associate Bonus Watch (2015): The First Cravath Match — Wow, That Was Fast!
Associate Bonus Watch (2015): A Second Firm Falls In Line


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