Am Law Top 20 Firm Antes Up With Special Bonus Bucks For Associates, Counsel

Yet another firm is offering big-time bonuses.

It’s another spring day, and Davis Polk is admiring its crown as the new Biglaw compensation leader as peer firms line up to match the incredibly generous special bonus bucks the firm decided to hand out to its associates and counsel.

Which firm is the latest to fall in line and offer up bountiful bonuses in recognition of its attorneys’ hard work?

That would be Paul Weiss. Chairman Brad Karp sent a memo yesterday evening detailing all of the hard work associates and counsel had put in during 2020 and beyond, including work for their communities in the firm’s coronavirus relief center and for its racial justice, social justice, and voter-protection initiatives. “Thanks to your efforts,” Karp wrote, “we helped make the world more safe, more equitable and more just – and we still have lots more work to do.”

This is what the bonus scale looks like at Paul Weiss (full memo on the next page):

Class Year June Bonus September Bonus Total Bonus
2020 $4,500 $7,500 $12,000
2019 $6,000 $10,000 $16,000
2018 $12,000 $20,000 $32,000
2017 $16,500 $27,500 $44,000
2016 $19,500 $32,500 $52,000
2015 $22,000 $37,000 $59,200
2014 and senior, including counsel $24,000 $40,000 $64,000

Special bonuses at Paul Weiss will be paid out on June 30 and September 30, and will not have any impact on the firm’s regular year-end bonuses in December. The firm is especially “proud of and grateful for [its attorneys’] extraordinary talents, dedication, and generosity” during these tumultuous times. Congratulations to all!

(Flip to the next page to see the full memo from Paul Weiss.)

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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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