Associates Taking Home Big Bonuses At Top 50 Biglaw Firm

If you bill enough, these bonuses can be yours!

Businesswoman dragging a giant money sackAs 2021 rolls to a close, it is nice to do some reflection on how the year — the second of the COVID pandemic — treated you. For Biglaw firms, the answer to how was 2021 seems to be an enthusiastic “awesome,” at least as it pertains to finances. Biglaw had a banger 2021 as far as money goes, and firms are sharing that good fortune with the associates who got them there.

West Coast mainstay Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have announced their annual bonuses. The firm, which had $1,130,000,000 in gross revenue last year, making it 36th on the Am Law 100, will be matching the market rate for year-end and special bonuses popularized a few weeks ago. That is, if the associates bill enough.

Associates who hit the firm’s 1,950-hour billing requirement will be eligible for bonuses according to the following scale:

Associate Level Comp Year Year-End Bonus Special Bonus
1st Year 2020 $20,000 $4,000
2nd Year 2019 $30,000 $6,000
3rd Year 2018 $57,500 $11,500
4th Year 2017 $75,000 $15,000
5th Year 2016 $90,000 $18,000
6th Year 2015 $105,000 $21,000
7th Year+ 2014- $115,000 $23,000

You can read the full memo on the next page.

*** Wondering if the grass is greener on the in-house side? Click here for a look inside the black box of corporate counsel pay in our 2021 In-House Compensation Report. ***

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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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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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