Biglaw Firm Raises Associate Salaries, Offers Market-Busting Bonuses For Big Billers
Wow! This Biglaw firm is offering associates bonuses of up to $45K over market.
Biglaw firms continue to earnestly reward their associates with salary increases and bonuses on the Cravath scale. For some firms, though, these market bonuses are just the base line — as it turns out, there’s a great deal of extra bonus money to be had. Just how much extra bonus money are we talking?
With a maximum bonus potential for senior associates of $160,000, Schulte Roth & Zabel is in it to win it this bonus season. The firm — which brought in $509,400,000 gross revenue in 2022, putting it at No. 94 in the most recent Am Law 100 ranking — announced raises and bonuses yesterday afternoon, and as far as bonuses are concerned, SRZ is offering much more than a simple Cravath match.
Here’s what the bonus scale looks like at SRZ, with lots of extra cash for the highest of billers, to be paid on January 22, 2024:
As you can see, there are three levels of step-up bonuses, and each requires a higher level of billable hours (i.e., “extraordinary contributions to the firm”): 2300, 2500, and 2700 hours, respectively. These above-market bonuses are quite the “thank you” for the dedicated work associates have been putting in this year.
The firm is also offering partial credit bonuses for those who were unable to meet their minimum hours target. As noted in the memo, associates with 1600 hours will receive a 50% class bonus, while associates with fewer than 1600 hours will receive a $5,000 bonus.
On top of these bonuses, Schulte has chosen to use the Cravath scale for its compensation increases, meaning these are the salaries associates at the firm will see, effective January 1, 2024:
- Class of 2023 – $225,000
- Class of 2022 – $235,000
- Class of 2021 – $260,000
- Class of 2020 – $310,000
- Class of 2019 – $365,000
- Class of 2018 – $390,000
- Class of 2017 – $420,000
- Class of 2016 – $435,000
- Class of 2015 – $445,000
(We’ll note here that Schulte is only the third firm to offer ninth-years in the class of 2015 a salary of $445K, following in the footsteps of Sidley and Ropes. Will any other firm be willing to match the $130K bonus that Ropes has offered to its most senior associates?)
Congratulations to everyone at SRZ!
(Flip to the next page to read the full memo from the firm.)
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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 and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
