Summer is nearly over, and so, the window for Biglaw firms to match the much celebrated Milbank summer bonuses is drawing to a close. Biglaw compensation, on the associate front at least, tends to be “follow the leader.” Now that Milbank has taken its position at the front of the pack, where’s everyone else?
It’s been 20 days since Milbank announced bonuses for its associates, ranging from $6,000 to $25,000, depending on class year. There are other signals business is booming at Milbank, but the big bucks for associates are getting a lot of attention. But also noteworthy is the silence from the rest of Biglaw.
So what’s going on?
Well, the end of summer tends to be a little slow with vacations, but, from my perspective, that’s a cop out. That would NEVER be an excuse if a client needed something on August 8th, so let’s stop pretending partners are incapable of responding from Martha’s Vineyard. And more to the point, Biglaw summer bonuses were telegraphed *months* ago. If associates were chatting about them back in May, it stretches credulity to say the partnership hasn’t thought about its response to the seeming inevitability.
Maybe they don’t have the money? That seems likely for a number of firms that get swept under the Biglaw banner. After all, the striations in the bands of Biglaw firms are getting more pronounced, with the the tippy top of Biglaw pulling away from the pack. So not every firm is in a position to throw around $25K, particularly since the perception firms will lose out on top talent is pretty low.
There’s also a sense that, though it may take time, many firms will “do right” by associates by year’s end. But be warned: if a firm adds the Milbank bonus numbers to the end-of-year bonus memo there could be strings attached. Year end bonuses often come with hours requirements (or office attendance ones), so firms can potentially save some coin by also linking the special bonuses to some fine print.
Plus there’s the fear factor (no, Joe Rogan is not involved). While Milbank’s bold first mover strategy has won its place in the hearts and minds of associates everywhere, it isn’t for everyone. Sometimes being first means someone else (cough, Cravath) will try and upstage you with splashier numbers. While Milbank keeps calm and matches whatever other bonuses come along, the safer game is to wait until the firms with the market leading reputations (Milbank, Cravath and Davis Polk are the usual suspects) have made their move. So my bet is the next mover is either Davis Polk or Cravath, but once those pieces falls into place the firms capable of matching the bonuses will do exactly that pretty rapidly.
How 8am LawPay Takes The Sting Out Of Legal Billing
Getting paid can be an arduous task. You should make it as easy on yourself and your clients as possible.
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] Summer Bonuses”). 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’ll 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.
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 or Mastodon @[email protected].