Skadden Enters The Bonus Game

Plus senior associates with 'extraordinary performance' will get extra money.

It’s not a shock when an Am Law 50 firm moves to match the prevailing market bonuses within a week of the first announcement, but it sure is nice for the associates there. The bonus season began when Milbank took the plunge and announced bonuses last week. Even though Milbank announced earlier than usual, Cravath quickly matched that scale, and now the only real question is when the other elite Biglaw firms will announce their own bonuses.

The guessing game has ended for Skadden associates, as today they announced they were getting on board with the prevailing Biglaw bonus scheme, with the possibility of slight improvement for senior associates. The bonus schedule — which looks similar (though not identical) to other firms that have announced this bonus season — is as follows:

Class of 2019 – $15,000 (pro-rated)
Class of 2018 – $15,000
Class of 2017 – $25,000
Class of 2016 – $50,000
Class of 2015 – $65,000
Class of 2014 – $80,000
Class of 2013 – $90,000 or $100,000
Class of 2012 and senior – $100,000 or $110,000

As you’ll notice, Skadden leaves some extra room on the schedule for senior associates who’ve had “extraordinary performance” this year to make $10,000 extra in their year-end bonus. Bonuses will be paid by the firm on December 13th. (Full memo on the next page.)

Remember, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.

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headshotKathryn 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).

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