Skadden, as is its tradition, is sending around individualized bonuses memos today. Our tipsters from a number of class years are reporting numbers in line with the Cravath scale.
So, if you work at Skadden, Major League rules apply: “You don’t want to celebrate in front of a guy who just died.” If you received more than the Cravath scale, you are special. Congratulations on all your success. If you received less, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s not business, it’s totally personal, the firm doesn’t like you and gave you a crappy bonus.
For me, the bonus scale doesn’t get set until Skadden comes out. That’s because I’m old and I remember 2008. As the Great Recession was wreaking havoc on clients and eventually their law firms, Skadden came out with a bonus payment twice as high as Cravath. All the other Biglaw firms, predictably, followed the lower Cravath scale. That was a long time ago, but I always remember that Skadden at least has the capability of marching to the beat of its own drum. It doesn’t have to slavishly follow Cravath. It can do what it thinks is right.
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This year, it thinks it’s right to just follow Cravath.
That makes sense. With this year’s bonus season playing out almost exactly like last year’s, despite the fact that the stock market is exploding upwards, everything feels like we’re in a giant holding pattern. Is the economy really doing this well? Are we living in a Mnuchin/Cohen fueled bubble that will burst into a thousand tears if Congress actually passes this tax plan? Will it burst if Congress doesn’t pass the tax plan?
The American government has been functionally destabilized. Who can really know what the 2018 economy is going to look like. For now, the safe move from firms with financial security is to hold the line, repeat what worked last year, and wait and see what happens.
In any event, congrats to Skadden attorneys. Except for that one guy who should take his below-market bonus as an indication to update his LinkedIn profile.
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Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.
Earlier:
Associate Bonus Watch: Cravath Announces Its 2017 Associate Bonuses!