Biglaw Bonus Pool Includes A 20 Percent Bump For High Billers

Money can be a great motivator for associate productivity.

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Who doesn’t love a good bonus announcement? It’s the perfect inspiration to keep associates happily billing with the promise of a big payday in the near future.

The good folks at Arnold & Porter understand that money can be a great motivator for associate productivity. That’s why in addition to the market bonuses, established by Milbank last month, the firm is offering extra money for their big billers. Associates will get 20 percent above the market rates if they’ve logged 2,400 hours, 2,200 of which is billable time, this year.

The firm’s bonus scale is as follows:

Class of 2019 – $15,000
Class of 2018 – $15,000
Class of 2017 – $25,000
Class of 2016 – $50,000
Class of 2015 – $65,000

You’ll notice the bonus grid at A&P drops off after 2015 while Biglaw bonus schedules tend to end with the classes of 2012 or 2011. According to the firm’s bonus announcement, senior associate bonuses will take into account market rates and well as productivity and other factors. Qualifying senior associates can expect to receive bonuses of up to $125,000.

Bonuses will be paid at the end of January. You can read the full memo on the next page.

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Remember — we can’t do this without you, dear readers! 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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