Kirkland & Ellis, World's Wealthiest Law Firm, Enters The Bonus Fray
Has the firm shattered the market on these special bonuses?
As predicted, now that Cravath has signed off on the latest round of special bonuses, Biglaw firms of all stripes have waltzed in to grace their associates (and counsel) with piles of cash. Now, the most profitable Biglaw firm in the the world has decided to offer some input.
What is Kirkland & Ellis planning to bring to the table?
The No. 1 firm in the country, known for its above-market bonuses, brought in $4,154,600,000 gross revenue in 2019, but it’s not going to be shattering the market on special bonuses. Instead, Kirkland is offering its associates a Davis Polk match and throwing a bone to its overworked and underpaid non-equity partners (“non-share partners” or “NSPs”) as well. Here’s what the special bonus scale looks like at K&E (full memo available on the next page):
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Rather than offering a $64K payday for its eldest associates in the Class of 2014 and beyond, the firm is reserving that sum for its partners in name only, perhaps in the hope that they’ll be a little less desperate to escape the firm and keep endlessly working like the leveraged little assets they are.
Kirkland acknowledges in its bonus memo that business demands have been “unrelenting” and thanks to the team’s “remarkable ongoing efforts,” there are no hours requirements attached to these bonuses. As noted above, payments will be made on April 30 and September 30. Congratulations to all.
(Flip to the next page to see the full memo from Kirkland & Ellis.)
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Staci 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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