Special Bonuses Don't Make Associate Happy At This Biglaw Firm
There's some fine print with the bonuses.
Usually when a Biglaw firm announces special bonuses, associates rejoice. After all, saying thank you for hard work during a pandemic with cold hard cash is generally the way to associates’ hearts. But, that’s not always the case.
You see, once there’s momentum in the market for a certain standard for special bonuses, anything less can feel like an insult. This is something Kramer Levin is learning the hard way. They announced special bonuses yesterday, but not everyone is happy about it. As one Kramer Levin tipster called them, they’re “the SHIT bonuses.” But let’s take a look at the details:
Hmmm, everything looks pretty standard, so why are folks so pissed? Well, it comes down to the fine print. Associates have to bill 1,900 hours (950 by June, 950 by year end) to qualify — which isn’t even the most arduous requirement we’ve seen so far — but only client-billable hours count. Though at least a make-up bonus is available for associates who hit their billable target only in the back half of the year.
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Here’s what more tipsters have to say:
Kramer Levin comes out weak and clearly way off market. Bonuses for ONLY client billable work – if 950 by June end. And if 950 between June and Dec. catch up. If pure client billable is 1900 by end of December. This is ridiculous. The firm was off market last year too with COVID bonuses limited to client and business dev work. And at this point it’s pay is just way below market. Even below some of the lower ranked firms
Firm morale is extremely low and associates are heavily disappointed specially because there was no loss in earnings last year.
If you’re a Kramer associate and want to sound off on your special bonuses, feel free to send a line to [email protected] — a fun or insightful response may make it into an update of this article.
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You can read the firm’s full memo on the next page.
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).
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