Biglaw Firm Announces Raises, Special Bonuses At The Same Time
Better late than never!
Today’s lateral market is hotter than fire, and to keep associates happy, it’s best to stay on market in terms of compensation, and that means raising salaries and offering special bonuses too. One firm got the memo, and made a well-received announcement about cash comp yesterday afternoon.
Cozen O’Connor — a firm that brought in $530,875,000 gross revenue in 2020, placing it at No. 74 in the most recent Am Law 100 ranking — notified associates yesterday that everyone would be receiving a raise.
Please note the UPDATE below.
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Starting salaries at the firm will be getting a $20,000 boost, but that’s not all. On top of that, department chairs will be permitted to “increase base compensation paid to the Associates and Counsel for the balance of 2021 in an amount up to the increase in starting salary,” effective July 1, 2021. Attorneys will find out their new salaries in a personal memo sometime today. But wait, there’s more good news. Associates and counsel will also be receiving a special bonus by the end of the year that will be paid in addition to, and not in lieu of, their year-end bonuses.
The firm knows all too well that this is a hot lateral market, and they want to be able to both retain and recruit as many associates as they can. Here’s an excerpt from the memo, sent by Michael Heller, the firm’s executive chairman and CEO:
Our ultimate goal is a compensation system which is reflective of the markets in which we operate and incentivizes productivity and rewards great lawyering, while at the same time recognizes the importance of work life balance and, therefore, your mental health and well-being. Work/life balance has always been an essential component of our culture, and we intend to keep it that way. …
Our primary objective is to have happy, healthy and productive lawyers. We have no interest in being an up or out firm for people that don’t “make their hours.” Those with significant production should expect market based compensation, while those with less can still be rewarded extremely well for their efforts. We are confident that the increased flexibility being given to the Department Chairs will provide permit both of those options.
Sources we’ve heard from at the firm seem quite pleased, so it seems like Cozen has accomplished its goal of keeping associates happy.
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UPDATE (2:15 p.m.): Scratch that. Not everyone is happy with these raises. Here’s some anonymous intel from insiders at the firm, who are not at all satisfied with this compensation news. Perhaps people were confused, and thought they’d all be receiving $20K raises? Yikes! But on the other side of the coin, some associates really are happy with the compensation scene at the firm. Take a look.
- “I want to be very very clear, not a single associate, myself included, is happy with this announcement. This is a fumbled, vague response to a growing problem at Cozen, we are paid below market and the gap between Cozen associates and associates at other firms only widens as we progress in our careers because the compensation increases are wildly low and out of step with the market. This email from the CEO does nothing to resolve those concerns, but doubles down on the same policies that have led to a lack of transparency.”
- “No one is happy. Compare this announcement to the announcement of other firms. By Cozen’s announcement, you do not know what the increases are for any attorney at the firm other than first-year associates. Again, the problem is the massive gap between ourselves and our peers at other firms…that problem is, and will remain, unaddressed. I know of associates sending out resumes today. I assure you that associates are mostly unhappy.”
- “These comments do not represent the Cozen associate thoughts as a whole. Many of us think that the firm is working to compensate us fairly. As Heller’s email indicates, the Cozen culture, lifestyle and the other intangible benefits of working at the firm outweigh the compensation differences between Cozen and other Am Law 100 firms.”
Congratulations to everyone at the firm!
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(Flip to the next page to see the memo from Cozen O’Connor.)
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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.
