Top 50 Biglaw Firm Announces Black-Box Bonuses, And Some Associates Are Pissed
The lack of transparency here is really angering associates.
As Biglaw bonus season begins to wind down and Milbank salary matches begin to catch on, we’ve got to wonder: Is there anything worse than below-market bonuses? The answer to that question may very well be black-box bonuses. As opposed to offering the traditional, lockstep bonuses that most firms do, some firms shroud their bonuses in secrecy, leaving associates wondering if there’s something else they could have done to earn more money and if their firms have actually met the prevailing market standard.
One of the firms that is reportedly using a black-box bonus system is Holland & Knight, a firm that’s fresh off this past summer’s merger with Thompson & Knight. Now, this is a firm that tends to match the market, but based off some reports that we’ve received from associates, that seems debatable. Specifically, as one associate said of the firm’s 2021 year-end bonuses, “Looks like more black box bullshit from a firm that pretends like it can hang with the rest of the Am Law 50.”
Earlier this week, the firm emailed associates that bonuses based on achieving their 1900 qualifying hours target (with bonuses climbing higher for every 100 hours over the 1900-hour goal) would be forthcoming, with H&K leaders noting that “[t]otal associate bonuses for 2021 are materially more than in prior years due to the hard work of our associates.” As a reminder, here’s what 2021 market bonuses and special bonuses looked like:
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Now that associates have seen their bonuses, some of them are quite upset. The firm’s total bonus pool may well be “materially more” than it’s been in years past, but some associates who have reached out to Above the Law are downright mad (while others seem to have received market money). Here are just a few of the comments we’ve received from associates (emphasis added):
“Holland & Knight sent this email on 2/15, which does not outline the bonus set for everyone. Based on what associates have seen in their accounts, most associates who hit the billing requirement have received 50% of market bonus (4th years are seeing $40,000 and 3rd years are seeing $28,700).”
“Many associates are disgruntled, particularly with HK raising their hours requirement to 2,000 hrs for 2022. I hope they are ready for a lot of associates to lateral to other firms.”
“I’m a fourth year and my bonus was about market. I spoke to other associates, and it sounds like they all received their class equivalent (no Davis Polk special bonus). We all billed well over 2,000 hours.”
“No one is particularly happy about the lack of transparency, and I’m actively calling recruiters to get a feel for the market.”
So, if you billed your butt off during the ongoing pandemic and managed to max out your hours, congratulations. It seems like Holland & Knight may have handsomely rewarded those who did. If you came in at or just below the mark, you’re probably pretty upset — and reasonably so.
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All bonus payouts at Holland & Knight will be made sometime later this month.
(Flip to the next page to see the full memo from Holland & Knight.)
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.
And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts (which is the alert list we also use for salary announcements), please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for your help!
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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.
