Some firms don’t hand out bonuses at the end of the calendar year because they want to screw their associates out of prime lateral season they have accounting issues. That means tips continue to trickle in to Above the Law about bonus announcements from across Biglaw. Just last week, we heard from Vinson & Elkins and we know there are more firms taking the bonus plunge as we speak.
But here’s where we remind everyone that Above the Law requires help from readers like you. Many of the holdout firms we’re tracking award individualized bonuses, leaving us with an incomplete picture. Cracking open these “black box” regimes — at least enough to get a peek at the broad trends governing compensation — requires more than a couple of tipsters.
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If you work at a firm that doesn’t issue a memo outlining a lockstep bonus schedule, and yet you enjoy Above the Law’s bonus coverage and recognize the value of transparency in the associate labor market, then you need to help out. Drop us a line explaining your situation and the bonus you received or just give us your sense — taken with appropriate grains of salt — about what people got. We’ll honor your confidentiality; we just want to see the big picture inside the firm to give a fair assessment of the market.
You can send tips by emailing us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus”) or texting us (646-820-8477).
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.