Associate Bonus Watch: Biglaw Dominoes Are Falling Into Place
Which Biglaw firms have already ponied up the big bucks?
Drinks are on your buddies from Cleary tonight (or Cravath or Milbank or Paul, Weiss or STB or Debevoise). While you wait around to find out if your firm is going to match the industry standard announced yesterday by Cravath, the good folks at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton have just made their move.
This doesn’t come as a tremendous shock, of course. The first six firms to announce their 2017 bonus structure were the first to announce in 2016 as well. It may not be collusion by the legal definition, but a definite pattern of behavior has been established.
For those that need a refresher, the Biglaw gold standard is as follows:
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Class of 2017 — $15,000 (pro-rated)
Class of 2016 — $15,000
Class of 2015 — $25,000
Class of 2014 — $50,000
Class of 2013 — $65,000
Class of 2012 — $80,000
Class of 2011 — $90,000
Class of 2010 — $100,000
Class of 2009 — $100,000
Cleary’s memo noted associates in older classes than 2009 would also receive the top of the scale ($100,000) and their bonuses will be paid out on December 22nd.
So far Biglaw Bonus Season has gone… exactly as expected. But that doesn’t mean you have to be happy about it. If you have something to say about the Cleary bonuses email us and let your thoughts be known!
So what about the bonuses everywhere else? Please help us help you when it comes to bonus news at other firms. As soon as your firm’s bonus memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus”) or text (646-820-8477), or tweet (@ATLblog). We always keep our sources anonymous — and that includes our sources for bonus stories. 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.
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Read the full memo on the next page.
Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).
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