Associate Bonus Watch: A Silicon Valley Bellwether Weighs In
A lockstep system matching the market doesn't sound very thrilling, but associates seem content.
Last year, Silicon Valley powerhouse Wilson Sonsini announced a new approach to bonuses. In short, it replaced its tiered structure, based on 1900-, 2100-, and 2400-hour levels, with lockstep bonuses on the New York/Cravath scale for everyone hitting 1900 “bonus-eligible” hours (a generous metric, including up to 100 hours of firm work and unlimited pro bono).
This system went over well with WSGR associates, who appreciated the transparency and the keeping up with New York. So the firm did it again this time around, using the following familiar scale:
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Yup, that’s right: “Just a Cravath match, as expected.”
So this news isn’t exactly thrilling. But the Wilson Sonsini associates we’ve heard from are definitely not complaining.
What’s going on at WSGR peer firms, like Cooley and Fenwick & West? If you have information, we’re all ears.
As soon as your firm’s bonus memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus”) or text us (646-820-8477). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.
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And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. 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.
Earlier: Associate Bonus Watch (2015): ‘Very Pleased’ Associates At A Leading Silicon Valley Firm
David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.
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