Associates Don't Deserve Bonuses Argues Woman Who Isn't An Associate

Don't shed any tears for firms paying associates less than market.

While many firms are following Cravath’s lead and offering a lockstep bonus, there are a few outliers drawing attention for trying to bait and switch their commitment to their associates. Firms like Norton Rose & Fulbright, who proclaimed a Cravath match… only to toss in some fine print restricting market bonuses to associates billing 2300 hours or more.

It’s a clumsy public relations effort rooted in the hope that the next batch of talent will only see dollar signs and not the fine print when the time comes.

But Vivia Chen of The Careerist fired up the hot-take machine and argued associates don’t deserve bonuses if they’re not billing 2300+:

Not to be a party pooper, but a “bonus” by definition is an extra treat, a gratuity; it’s not an automatic entitlement nor an indispensable component of the compensation package (unlike what I-bankers get).

First of all, in an occupation that has handed out bonuses without fail for decades, it’s no longer an extra treat, it’s absolutely a component of overall compensation. For the same reason, when firms occasionally hand out mid-year bonuses, no one argues that those are anything but a gratuity because there’s no tradition there. The holiday bonus is more akin to a profit share payout — flexible, but guaranteed.

In other words, Clark Griswold was right:

I was expecting a check. Instead I got enrolled in a jelly club. Seventeen years with the company. I’ve gotten a Christmas bonus every year but this one. You don’t want to give bonuses, fine. But when people count on them as part of their salary…

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Second, this is supposedly an efficient labor market, and where a critical mass of firms signal to the market that total first-year compensation is $195K for all associates in good standing (which often includes a modest hourly target, like 1900 hours) and others, like Cadwalader, signal that compensation may actually exceed the market floor for high performers, a firm that says it will tank rank-and-file associates at sub-market rates unless they hit 2300+ is making a conscious choice to depart the loosely defined boundaries of civil Biglaw society. This isn’t a petty dig at the firm by greedy associates, it’s cold and market-based. If an associate is a rational actor seeking to maximize their earnings, then don’t go to Norton Rose Fulbright.

I know, I know, some firms don’t have explicit billable hour requirements for bonuses, so it seems unfair that some firms impose the burden. But does anyone seriously believe that associates at Cravath or Wachtell Lipton aren’t working their rear-ends off just because there’s no stated billable minimum?

This actually hits on the biggest fallacy of billable-hour requirements. Cravath doesn’t have minimums because if an associate wasn’t really trying, they wouldn’t be at Cravath. When firms stiff associates on bonuses, they’re not saying that the associate didn’t work hard enough, what they’re actually saying is, “we do think your 2200 hours represent good enough work and you’ve contributed enough to lining our partners’ pockets to remain at the firm, but we’ll use this as an excuse to save even more money.” It’s implicit in the hourly regime that billing 2000-2299 hours represents acceptable work; Norton Rose just doesn’t want to pay it, and they’ve found what they think is a socially acceptable reason to withhold money.

Thankfully some firms, like Baker Botts, have reversed course on onerous hourly requirements.

Frankly, I think it’s much more honest and fair to say that those who bill more will take home more moolah. Firms might be reluctant to use phrases like “eat what you kill” in front of their young, but that’s the brutal truth.

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Unfortunately, this makes no sense in the associate context because associates aren’t killing anything. Associates rarely get to choose their schedules, with scheduling partners performing a delicate juggling act to keep everyone maximally engaged in the best systems and associates begging partners for work in others. If those latter firms sound like they afford a good deal of associate choice, think again. In these systems, partners often open up fiefdoms and jealously guard the time of their associates, which can be a boon for hours if the partner is handling a number of high-attention matters, but can leave associates high and dry if they’re being walled off from other assignments waiting on a matter to ramp up that never does. Worse, those fiefdoms tend to find partners rewarding “their people” with ample work, often oblivious to the fact that “their people” are often demographic duplicates, reinforcing racial and gender stratification within the firm.

Plus, there’s good reason to believe “eat what you kill” compensation regimes are damaging to firms even amongst partners. Firms with a lockstep culture don’t invite inefficiencies, where partners take on work outside their expertise or beyond their effective bandwidth in order to guarantee a greater share of the prize. Lockstep systems carry with them a collegiality that puts client needs above an attorney’s self-interest. That’s before we get to the risk that attorneys may seek out clients who rack up huge bills in the short-term, exposing the firm as a whole to liability down the stretch. All things considered, firms should be preaching less “eat what you kill” to associates rather than more.

So if a firm is trying to spin a story about sub-market bonuses, don’t let them get away with it. Let us know so we can ensure the next generation know to vote with their feet. Your professional effort is valuable, and if firms aren’t honoring that at least to the bare level set by the market, it’s time to find different firms.

The Careerist: Entitled Associates, Royal Nuptials, Cooley’s Coolness + More [Law.com]

Earlier: This Firm Won’t Give You Anywhere Near A Full Bonus If You Don’t Meet Your Hours Requirements
Finally, A Firm That’s ‘Beating’ The Cravath Scale!
Bigger Bonuses? Lower Hours Requirements? Is This 2017?


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