Associate Bonus Watch 2011
-
American Bar Association / ABA, Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Bloomberg, Bonuses, Job Searches, Law Schools, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Unemployment, Videos, YouTube
Is the Legal Recession Finally Ending?
At the start of this new year, what is the outlook like for legal employment? There's certainly a fair amount of bad news out there, particularly for recent law school graduates. But what about for denizens of Biglaw, the lawyers fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to work at the nation's largest law firms? What does 2012 hold for them? Earlier this month, Elie made some predictions for the legal profession. Lat will follow in his footsteps and venture some prophecies of his own for the year.... -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Billable Hours, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Dechert's Bonus Is Contingent On Something That Sure Sounds Like Billable Hours
Just after Christmas, Dechert announced its 2011 end-of-year bonuses. We guess you'd call it a "match" of the Cleary Gottlieb scale. Dechert is paying a pro-rated bonus to first-year associates and has a top payment of $42,500 for very senior associates. But Dechert isn't a lockstep firm. You have to meet a requirement in order to get the bonus.... - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Willkie Farr
Associate Bonus Watch: Willkie Farr
As we recently mentioned, our view is “better late than never” when it comes to bonus news. With this in mind, we are pleased to bring you the bonus announcement of Willkie Farr — which came out in December. Given Willkie Farr’s status as a top New York law firm, you can probably guess what […]
-
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Kasowitz Benson, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Kasowitz Rewards Superior Legal Minds
Today's bonus news comes to us from Kasowitz Benson. The litigation powerhouse, which describes itself as "a national law firm primarily focusing on complex and sophisticated commercial litigation, numbering 375 lawyers," announced its bonuses last Thursday, January 5. So how much is Uncle Marc paying to the superior legal minds who work for him? -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Irell Whacks Cravath, Again
As we've been saying, it's not that hard to give your associates a better bonus than what they're doling out at Cravath. At the elite California firm of Irell & Manella, they do it every year. Once again, Irell has issued bonuses that put Cravath's to shame. No muss, no fuss -- multiple sources tell us the the bonuses were much bigger than the Cravath bonuses. So how much bigger are we talking about? -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Cheapness, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Who's Still Waiting for Their Bonus Announcement?
While it might be fun for Cravath and Sullivan & Cromwell to play chicken over who will announce spring bonuses first, there are a whole bunch of firms who are just sitting around waiting to find out how much they are going to have to pay. And there are a bunch of associates who are starting to wonder if they'll be getting any kind of bonus at all. So who did we miss? Who still owes you a bonus announcement? -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Ho-Love, Hogan & Hartson, Lovells, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Hogan Lovells
In our recent post on the top 10 most generous large law firms, the firm of Hogan Lovells placed second. Under the rankings, this meant that Hogan partners are taking the second-biggest hit to their own bottom lines in order to keep their associates happy and well-compensated. But is this still the case today? Based on what we're hearing about the most recent Hogan bonuses, one wonders whether the Ho-Love partners have turned from Santas into Scrooges.... -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Crime, Insider Trading, Money, White-Collar Crime
Associate Bonus Watch: Fried Frank Announces Bonuses 'Up to $52,500'
Here’s a Fried Frank bonus for you: Matthew Kluger, the former Fried Frank associate who sued the firm for alleged discrimination, is going to prison. As you may recall, Kluger — who also worked as an associate at other top law firms, including Cravath, Skadden, and Wilson Sonsini — was charged in a massive insider […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: A Nice Bonus At Kirkland & Ellis, Assuming Cravath Remains Cheap
Earlier this week, Kirkland & Ellis associates started receiving phone calls about their bonuses. Many associates are reporting that their bonuses "shattered the market." It's important to note that Kirkland has a "black box" bonus structure, in which the payouts are highly individualized and based on performance and hours. Every year, there are some winners and losers. And right now, we're hearing a lot of chatter from K&E winners.... -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Updates and Addenda
In the world of Biglaw, the subject of bonuses is a hot-button issue. People will disagree, often vehemently, on whether the bonuses paid by a particular firm are generous or cheap. Some of our recent bonus posts have generated salient updates and dissenting opinions. After the jump, we bring you postscripts regarding bonuses at several major law firms, including Cravath, Kaye Scholer, Quinn Emanuel, Sidley Austin, and Weil Gotshal.... -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Cheapness, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Schulte Roth & Zabel Leaves a Trail of Bonus Crumbs
Schulte Roth & Zabel really came up with a creative way to make this terrible bonus season even worse for SRZ associates. Schulte is matching the Cravath scale, but not all at once. Half of the bonus is being paid now, the other half in March. It's Schulte's way of issuing a retention bonus without actually spending any extra money.... -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Billable Hours, Bonuses, john quinn, Litigators, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Quinn Emanuel Rewards High Billers
It seems that founding partner John Quinn isn't the only one at Quinn Emanuel with a surplus of Benjamins right about now. On Friday, the litigation powerhouse announced its 2011 year-end bonus scale -- and, for the most part, it's more generous than the benchmark Cravath bonus scale.... -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Sidley's Bonus Match Draws Yawns From Associates
Elie has a disproportionate amount of lawyer friends who work at Sidley Austin. Their bonuses have caused all sorts of fun to happen in his inbox. The firm appears to be matching the market bonus in New York and D.C. We haven't seen the memo, but we understand that Sidley is matching the Cravath scale instead of the higher Sullivan & Cromwell mark....
Sponsored
Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use.
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…
Sponsored
Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so…
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms.
-
Antitrust, Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money, Partner Issues
What Do Cravath Partners Say About The Bonuses To Other Biglaw Partners When They Think Nobody Is Listening?
A tipster let us in on an overheard conversation between Cravath partner Susan Webster and a Biglaw partner at a different firm. When we contacted her, Webster told us that the tipster mischaracterized the nature of her accidentally public conversation. But why don't you take a look, and prepare yourself for the possibility of a very sad spring.... -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Gibson Dunn Does Its Thing(Or: Gibson Dunn Open Thread -- 2011)
Partners at Gibson Dunn are conducting associate reviews this week. Associates receive news of how they’re doing — and how much they’ll be getting, in terms of bonuses that will be paid out later this month. As we’ve explained in 2010 and 2009, the GDC bonus system is not transparent and not lockstep. Instead, associates […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Clifford Chance and Covington Play the Match Game
MOAR BONUS NEWS! Enough with all this sadness about these pathetically low bonuses that Cravath has engineered for everybody. Let’s try to be positive. People are getting money. Yay money. Who can be sad when they are getting more money? In fact, I have a great idea: instead of just writing checks that reflect the […] -
Akin Gump, Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Akin Gump Matches in New York, But Won't Really Get Into This Thing Until January
Akin Gump, it seems to me, has taken the reasonable approach for any firm that does not want to be a market leader in terms of compensation: it’s going to wait. Of course the firm is going to match. Most of the firms will end up matching the prevailing market for associate bonuses. But as […] -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Boutique Law Firms, Clerkships, Litigators, Money, Partner Issues, Susman Godfrey, Texas
Associate Bonus Watch: Susman Godfrey Pays Ten-Gallon Bonuses (and Announces New Partners)
Just as it did last year, the powerhouse litigation boutique of Susman Godfrey announced associate bonuses that put the bonus scales of most other firms to shame. Happy Holidays, Susman Godfrey associates! So, the Susman bonuses -- what are we looking at here? -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: It's Cahill Time (aka Time for Cravath Associates To Feel Bad, Again)
Last year, Cravath initially low-balled the bonus market, and Cahill Gordon made them look foolish by using the Cravath scale as a floor for its bonuses. This year, Cravath has come out with another crappy bonus scale, and Cahill is beating the bag out of it again. This year, Cahill is making a "special bonus" payment right now, in time for everybody's next paycheck. This is before they even delve into the regular year-end bonuses that Cravath has set at such a low mark. So just how special are these special bonuses? -
Associate Bonus Watch 2011, Biglaw, Bonuses, Money
Associate Bonus Watch: Cadwalader Matches S&C Bonus Scale
It’s beginning to look a lot like last year’s Christmas at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. CWT announced yesterday that it would be matching the Sullivan & Cromwell bonus scale. It starts at $7,500 for the class of 2010 and tops out at $42,500 for the class of 2003 and more senior. All bonuses will be […]