Elite Firm Offers Eye-Popping Raises As Well As Summer Bonuses
Big-time raises for associates with mid-year bonuses on top of them? We love to see it!
Summer bonus season seems to be in full effect, with Hueston Hennigan and McKool Smith awarding generous cash to associates based on their billables. This cash run seemed to remind our sources about a recent round of generous raises that went unreported — perhaps because the firm also included summer bonuses along with those raises.
Which firm raised its associates’ salaries above and beyond the Cravath scale, offering summer cash on top of it?
That would be Desmarais LLP, an elite IP litigation boutique, which known for its above-market compensation — and now that compensation is climbing even higher.
Back in February — yes, February, please send your compensation tips to us ASAP — John Desmarais, founding partner of the firm, told associates, “We are at a particularly busy time, and we need your help to get through it. We know that and appreciate your hard work. To show our appreciation … the partnership decided to move forward with the following initiatives….” Here’s a snapshot of what those initiatives look like:
Would more firms have hopped on the summer/mid-year bonus bandwagon sooner if this Desmarais memo had materialized before now? Who knows, but now that other firms are in on the bonus plan, it’s time for even more to join in.
Now, about those salaries — let’s take a look at the eye-popping compensation Desmarais is now offering to associates.
Associate raises at Desmarais were effective March 1, and mid-year bonuses will be paid out on June 30. Congratulations!
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of this stuff. 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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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 X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
