Boutique Law Firms

Elite Litigation Powerhouse Steamrolls The Market With Bountiful Bonuses

Woooooo, big money!

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The 2020 bonus season is as far as can be from being called a dud, what with up to $40,000 of special bonus money that has been tacked on to just about every market bonus, but with a few exceptions here and there, we’ve yet to see a firm step forward to announce truly market-busting bonuses — until today.

Enter litigation boutique Susman Godfrey, a firm that consistently wows associates with bonuses that beat the market into a pulp. The loss of the firm’s founding partner, Steve Susman, due to COVID-19 puts a bit of a damper on this exciting news, but the firm is sharing bonuses with associates that top out at $170,000. Here are this year’s big numbers:

For purposes of comparing Susman Godfrey associate bonuses to those of law firms that base bonuses on law school graduation year, here are the median bonuses for Susman Godfrey associates by graduation year:

  • 2012 (or earlier): $170,000
  • 2013: $  160,000
  • 2014: $  145,000
  • 2015: $  125,000
  • 2016: $  120,000
  • 2017: $  115,000
  • 2018: $    80,000

These are the median bonuses, but given that the most junior associates ($80,000) are averaging almost as much as the most senior associates on the Cravath scale ($100,000), you know it’s been a good year at Susman Godfrey. For the sake of comparison, the standard market bonus for the Class of 2018 is $25,000, meaning Susman is giving associates $55,000 more. Even when considering the addition of a special bonus on top of a market bonus, the Class of 2018 would be bringing home $35,000, meaning Susman is still giving associates $45,000 more than even the most prestigious of Am Law firms. That’s a pretty great payday.

Congratulations to both the firm and its associates on a wonderful 2020.

(Flip to the next page to read the Susman Godfrey bonus press release in full.)

Remember everyone, 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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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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