Biglaw Giant Rolls Out Bonuses -- With Extra Cash Available For Senior Associates

We shouldn't be surprised senior associates are getting some extra love.

By Kathryn Rubino

onNovember 20, 2018 at 12:29 PMNovember 20, 2018 at 1:04 PM

You always knew Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom would, at the very least, match the market bonuses set yesterday by competitor Cravath. There was simply no way the Biglaw giant would do anything less.

Today, less than 24 hours after the first 2018 bonus was announced, Skadden has released their own bonus memo. The good news is that associates at Skadden will indeed be seeing market-level bonuses across all class years. The really good news is reserved for senior associates, who are eligible for “enhanced bonuses” for “extraordinary” performance — to the tune of a cool extra $10K.

Here is the firm’s bonus scale:

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We shouldn’t be surprised senior associates are getting some extra love. After all, when associate raises were in the offing earlier this year, Cravath came over the top of the scale set by Milbank for senior associates. Trying to keep their most experienced associates happy at the firm is increasingly a concern at Biglaw, and there’s no better way to show an employee you appreciate them than by throwing extra cash their way.

(The full memo from the firm is on the next page.)

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headshot Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. 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).