Nothing good ever happens when you get an early morning buzz from your work email. It’s either spam or a cause for concern — some terrible turn on that deal or an irate client that needs immediate attention. But Biglaw associates at one firm got a pleasant surprise this morning from a pre- 8 a.m. work email — a raise announcement!
Gibson Dunn — one of the few Am Law Top 25 firms by profitability (and boasting an impressive $1,642,585,000 in gross revenue) who hadn’t yet increased associate salaries — has finally gotten on board with the new top of the market standard set by a trio of Biglaw firms that we are unoriginally referring to the Milbank/Simpson/Cravath scale.
This means, of course, that associates will be getting a raise ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, depending on class year. Plus there are those delightful special bonuses that will brighten up any associate’s bank account in the range of $5,000 to $25,000, again, depending on seniority — but not every office is being treated the same.
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See, how you actually get the bonuses depends on where you work. The New York office — all associates and of counsel — received a version of the announcement that just says associates need to be in good standing at the firm on July 6th (the payment date) to get their bonus. A different email went out to Dallas, DC, Denver, Houston, LA, and Orange County, all associates and of counsel as well as to San Fran and Palo Alto of counsel that sets a billing requirement of 1950 hours, annualized through June 30th, to receive the special bonus. Associates that don’t hit that target will have the opportunity to make up the hours by year end to get the special bonus.
A tipster (not based in New York) said they weren’t surprised the Big Apple was getting more generous treatment:
That office burns through associates like kindling.
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Another (non-NYC) tipster noted that New York never has an hours requirement for bonuses, so this decision is in line with past practices. But that doesn’t mean folks aren’t salty about it:
Must be nice to be the favorite child.
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(Read both versions of Gibson’s announcement 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).