Am Law 100 Firm Jumps Into Fall 2021 Special Bonus War -- This Time With A Scale To Match!
Special bonuses of up to $40K? We'll take it! Will your firm consider matching?
With bonus season around the corner, Biglaw associates are now watching and waiting to see if their firms will be doling out special bonuses. While more than 55% of respondents to our annual bonus survey reported that they did not believe any additional special bonuses would be offered, that’s exactly what seems to be happening now. It’s just a matter of which firms will offer up extra cash to their attorneys, and on what terms.
Paul Weiss started the trend last week, offering discretionary special bonuses to certain associates and counsel who “exhibited exceptional commitment” to the firm during the first half of 2021, with a second bonus of the same type to come in early 2022 for the second half of 2021. The next firm to board the special bonus train is Mintz, and this time, we’ve got an actual scale as well as an hourly requirement. (For the executive committee members who are reading, this seems like it could be a great example to work off of if your firm is considering offering special bonuses.)
Mintz — a firm that brought in $502,100,000 gross revenue in 2020, ranking it at No. 79 in the most recent Am Law 100 — made its special bonus announcement right after Paul Weiss’s bonus news spread like wildfire (but completely independent of Paul Weiss, of course). Here’s what Mintz is offering:
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That’s not a bad haul! In fact, this is reminiscent of the Willkie special bonus scale (before the firm was one-upped by Davis Polk) in that it tops out at $40,000, but the Mintz scale is much more generous for junior associates.
As noted by the American Lawyer, the firm will also be offering special bonuses to special counsel, practice group associates, patent agents, and technical advisors, but their bonuses will be discretionary, “informed by seniority, quality of work, and billable hours” as of Februrary 28, 2022.
Not to worry, Mintzers, because according to managing partner Robert Bodian, these special bonuses are “solely additive and will not be considered part of, or credited against, any other bonus.” Congratulations to everyone at the firm!
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(Flip to the next page to see the memo from Mintz.)
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm announces or 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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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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