Cleary Gottlieb sent its associates off to the holiday with something to be thankful for, announcing a full Cravath match for its associates on its U.S. compensation scale. In other words, the New York and Washington attorneys and those international lawyers paid the American scale.
This isn’t a surprise for Cleary, a firm that dutifully keeps up with the Cravaths when it comes to attorney compensation. Observers may note that there aren’t any bells and whistles offering premium bonuses for top billers or lumps of coal for those who missed targets because Cleary remains old-school in its commitment to collegiality, and at the heart of that commitment is a lockstep compensation regime that respects its associates enough to know they’re all working hard and hour fluctuations are more a factor of assignment chance than someone shirking. It’s a professional mindset that’s increasingly fading away in Biglaw.
Anyway, here’s the scale:
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2018 $15,000 (prorated)
2017 $15,000
2016 $25,000
2015 $50,000
2014 $65,000
2013 $80,000
2012 $90,000
2011 $100,000
2010 (and senior) $100,000
Bonuses will be paid on December 14.
Congrats to all the Cleary associates.
(Memo on the next page, as usual.)
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Joe Patrice is a senior 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.