Kirkland's NOT Giving Special Bonuses (And Associates Are Salty About It)
No bonuses is big bonuses news.
(Image via Getty)
Yikes. I can understand a firm’s inclination to be transparent with associates, but you have to wonder if it would be better to say nothing at all. And for those associates who thought working for — far and away — the richest Biglaw firm meant of course you’d get market bonuses? Lolololol. COVID makes fools of us all.
So what exactly happened?
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Last night, Kirkland & Ellis sent around a message indicating that yes, they are aware that fall bonuses are making their way through Biglaw, but no, you should not expect them. The firm acknowledged the discrepancy between top of the market and what they’re doing and said they’d take the market into account during year-end bonus time, but made no clear commitment.
Read the memo for yourself:
Let’s check in with our Kirkland readers —- y’all, they’re not okay:
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Disappointing, since hours did not slow down for Covid, but apparently comp did.
Associates are livid. Despite the general lack of transparency, we were told that our office was up 20% year on year. What a slap in the face to everyone who’s been grinding all year under difficult conditions.
The email doesn’t contain a commitment to true us up, it’s just an anodyne statement that they’ll take them “into account.” What garbage. These cheapskates have been talking for months about how the firm is having a banner year (for instance, the funds group is apparently on track to have a billion dollars of revenue on its own), but they can’t share it with associates.
I’m a senior associate at K&E. I think that what they’re going to do here is roll it into the year-end bonus, then use it as an opportunity to scrimp. So where in years past the average bonus was 1.25x (I snuck a pic of the powerpoint last year and I’m pretty sure that’s what the average was, but I can’t find it now), now they’ll be able to lower it to 1.15x but make it look ok because they’re aggregating it with the year-end bonus. And of course people with below-class ratings are going to get the shaft and they won’t compute them into the statistics about what’s “average”. This is a complete money grab, but exactly what I’d expect from the partnership here.
If you forward the email on your phone, you can see that they were tweaking the “and we intend to be so again this year” phrasing. Like, these guys were definitely on a Zoom call together trying to figure out how to polish this turd without making any true commitments.
Morale is NOT GREAT.
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Another K&E person chiming in to describe the mood among my friends as FUCKING IRATE. I like the firm and generally drink the koolaid, but the fact that they call themselves compensation leaders twice in the “sry no bonus” email is ridiculous. Please vote us down in Vault.”
KE associate checking in — they said they would consider fall bonuses when determining December bonuses. But still. Bullshit. Lots of people will just get screwed given the individualized system we have. This is also a fuck you move because it’s pretty clearly a signal to other firms that the KE partners don’t want them to match. Just like Covington’s lame attempt to stop the salary raises a few years ago. Shame.
I am not in restructuring, but I can only imagine how pissed those guys have got to be during this insane year.
This is a slap in the face for associates at the world’s #1 grossing law firm.
So there you go, associates are deeply upset with this development. And remember, traditionally, the firm prides itself on above market — albeit individualized — bonuses. So, whatever numbers (which will be difficult to compare since you know, individualized) the firm comes up with at the end of the year, there’s a pretty good chance that, overall, they won’t be as generous as last year. At least that’s what insiders think; we’ll see what happens come December.
So what do you think? Is this a sign to other firms not to match? Will Kirkland competitors shower their associates with special bonuses? Is there blood in the water? Will Kirkland be able to keep its perch as the richest Biglaw firm? Feel free to sound off by email, by text message (646-820-8477), or by tweet (@ATLblog). A fun or insightful response — we’ll keep you anonymous — could find its way into an update to this story.
Please help us help you when it comes to bonus news at other firms. As soon as your firm’s bonus memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus”) or text us (646-820-8477). 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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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).
