Everyone Shares In The Bonus Fun In Latest Biglaw Spring Special Bonus Announcement

Who *doesn't* like big bonuses?

One thing the pandemic can’t stop is the need for high-end legal advice. As such, elite Biglaw firms are doing pretty well, and rather than just divvy up that money amongst the partners, the hot new trend is sharing that largesse with associates in the form of spring special bonuses.

Goodwin Procter is the latest Biglaw firm to jump on the spring bonus bandwagon. They’re making two payments to associates according to the following schedule:

US/HK Class Year UK/Lux

Class

Year

July 1 Payment October 1 Payment
Trainees $1,500 $2,500
NQ $2,400 $4,000
2020 1 PQE $4,500 $7,500
2019 2 PQE $6,000 $10,000
2018 3 PQE $12,000 $20,000
2017 4 PQE $16,500 $27,500
2016 5 PQE $19,500 $32,500
2015 6 PQE $22,200 $37,000
2014+ 7 PQE+ $24,000 $40,000

They went with July and October disbursements, and larded up the later payment, but, those are just the details. The amount of money on the table remains the same as what peer firms are giving out (thank you Davis Polk for raising that bar) — provided you bill enough. The firm also clarified that to be eligible for these payments, associates must meet an annualized hours threshold of 1,850 hours.

But associates aren’t the only ones getting in on the bonus fun! In a separate announcement the firm declared special counsel would get bonuses, payable at 1,750 annualized hours, as follows:

July 1 Payment October 1 Payment
$24,000 $40,000

And senior attorneys, also at the 1,750 mark, will get bonuses as follows:

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July 1 Payment October 1 Payment
$16,500 $27,500

Department and discovery attorneys as well as science advisors and science law clerks will also get bonuses at the 1,750 annualized threshold:

July 1 Payment October 1 Payment
$4,500 $7,500

All the announcements available on the next page.

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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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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