Associate Compensation Scorecard: Which Firms Have Announced Bonuses?
Is your firm listed here? If not, what are the partners waiting for?
Since we broke the news of the market bonus scale for associates at large law firms in the United States — a trend that was started by Cravath on Monday, November 28, 2016 — many firms have quickly fallen in line and matched (or sometimes beaten) the scale. It’s still quite early in bonus season, so we’ve yet to hear from firms offering statements on why they’ve failed to match the market, and dozens upon dozens of firms have remained completely silent.
As we did when the new associate salary scale was announced by Cravath in June, we are compiling a table of all the firms that have already matched the new bonus scale, the markets where those bonus matches were made, the minimum hours required to receive those bonuses (if available), and the date those bonuses will be paid. Today, we unveil that table for your viewing pleasure. We will be updating this table on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times, as news on bonuses is announced. If you see any information here that is incorrect or needs further clarification, let us know.
Help us help you now (and if/when you decide to make a lateral move in the future). Let us know what your firm’s minimum billable hours targets are for bonus eligibility and when your firm will pay those bonuses. You generally must remain at your firm until the payout date to receive them, as stated in most memos, which could make it all the more difficult for you to leave your place of employment.
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As a little reminder, we love covering the Biglaw bonus season, but we need your help. 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. Thanks for your help.
Don’t forget, if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts, please enter your email address in the box below. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Cheers to a happy bonus season, everyone!
| Firm | Date Matched | Offices Matched | Minimum Hours | Payout Date |
| Cravath Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
FIRST MOVER November 28, 2016 |
New York, NY | None | December 16, 2016 |
| Paul Weiss Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2009+: $100K |
November 28, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 23, 2016 |
| Milbank Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
November 28, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 30, 2016 |
| Simpson Thacher Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 30, 2016 |
| Debevoise Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2009+: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | “Year-end” |
| Cleary Gottlieb Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008+: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | All U.S. Offices + International Lawyers on U.S. Salary Scale | None | December 23, 2016 |
| Willkie Farr Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2009+: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 21, 2016 |
| Holwell Shuster Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | New York, NY | None | December 31, 2016 |
| Proskauer Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | Boston, MA Chicago, IL Los Angeles, CA New York, NY Washington, D.C. |
None | December 22, 2016 |
| Weil Gotshal Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | January 31, 2017 |
| Davis Polk Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2009+: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 23, 2016 |
| Allen & Overy Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
November 29, 2016 | All U.S. Offices + São Paulo, Brazil | None | January 13, 2017 |
| Skadden Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K Class of 2010+: $100K for “extraordinary performance” |
November 30, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | 1800 “productive hours” | December 16, 2016 |
| Ropes & Gray Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2014: $25K Class of 2013+: Determined individually Increased bonuses for top performers |
November 30, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | 1900 billable + pro bono hours | December 23, 2016 |
| Dechert Class of 2015: $15K Class of 2009+: $100K |
November 30, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | 1950 billable, pro bono, and firm-as-client work, plus up to 25 hours of partner shadowing | January 23, 2017 |
| Shearman + Sterling Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2009+: $100K |
November 30, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | January 13, 2017 |
| Freshfields Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008+: $100K |
November 30, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 30, 2016 |
| Clifford Chance Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008+: $100K |
December 1, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | Target of 2000 hours | January 13, 2017 |
| Linklaters Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
December 1, 2016 | All U.S. Associates (worldwide) | None | December 30, 2016 |
| Fried Frank Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008+: $100K Bonuses 15 or 30% above market at the 2200- and 2450-hour marks |
December 2, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | 2000 for full bonus (incl. 425 in pro bono and certain other non-billable hours) | December 28, 2016 |
| Wilkinson Walsh Class of 2015: $22.5K Class of 2008: $150K |
December 5, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 16, 2016 |
| Covington & Burling Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2009+: $100K |
December 5, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | End of January 2017 |
| Boies Schiller Individualized |
December 6, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 6, 2016 |
| Greenberg Gross Class of 2015: $15K ($5K or more) Class of 2009: $100K (+$5K or more) |
December 8, 2016 | Costa Mesa, CA | None | December 23, 2016 |
| Cahill Gordon Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K (+$40K special bonus) |
December 8, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | Special bonuses: January 6, 2017 Regular bonuses: Second half of January 2017 |
| Desmarais Class of 2016: $5K plus $15K signing bonus Class of 2008: $185K |
December 9, 2016 | New York, NY | None | Undisclosed |
| Hueston Hennigan Individualized (ranging from 30 to 50 percent of an associate’s base salary) |
December 12, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | Undisclosed |
| Susman Godfrey Class of 2014: $40K minimum Class of 2009+: $120-$140K |
December 13, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | Undisclosed |
| Schulte Roth & Zabel Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2007: $100K $10K additional for 2300 hours $10K additional for 2500 hours ($20K total for satisfying both thresholds) |
December 14, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | January 20, 2017 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K |
December 14, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 21, 2016 |
| Eimer Stahl Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2009: $100K Additional individualized profit-sharing bonus Circuit Court clerkship bonus: $100K District Court clerkship bonus: $80K Two federal clerkships bonus: $20K |
December 15, 2016 | Chicago, IL | None | December 16, 2016 |
| Sidley Austin Individualized |
December 16, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | 2000 hours (200 of which can be pro bono) | Undisclosed |
| Akin Gump Class of 2015: $15K Class of 2008: $100K Additional performance bonuses of $5K to $25K |
December 17, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | ~1950 client hours (including pro bono hours) | February 15, 2017 |
| Gibson Dunn Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K Additional individualized performance bonuses |
Upon completion of performance review | All U.S. Offices | None | Undisclosed |
| Arnold & Porter Class of 2016: $15K Class of 2009+: $100K Additional individualized performance bonuses of up to $120K |
December 19, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | 2000 hours (including up to 200 pro bono or business development hours) | January 3, 2017 |
| Kirkland & Ellis Individualized |
December 19, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | Undisclosed |
| Quinn Emanuel Class of 2016: $15K (pro-rated) Class of 2008: $100K See bonus matrix for additional hours-based incentives |
December 19, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | At least 1900 hours for partial bonus | December 20, 2016 |
| Haynes and Boone Individualized |
December 20, 2016 | All U.S. Offices | None | December 20, 2016 |
| Kasowitz Benson Class of 2016: $15K Class of 2008: $100K |
January 5, 2017 | New York, NY | 2150 hours (from 12/1/15 through 11/30/16) and performance at “level of quality expected for class year” | January 31, 2017 |
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Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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