Biglaw firms like Milbank may be the source of the generous year-end and special bonus scales that have swept the legal industry, but it’s the boutique firms where associates will really have the opportunity to pad their wallets.
Time and time again, boutique firms have truly spread the wealth among associates this bonus season, by not just meeting the Milbank scale, but oftentimes completely blowing it away. The latest boutique firm to hand out unbelievable bonuses to associates is Bursor & Fisher.
Sources at the firm have told us that Scott A. Bursor, the firm’s founder, announced bonuses last week during B&F’s year-end reviews, which were held at the Fountainebleu Hotel in Miami Beach. All lawyers and staff from the firm’s offices in New York and California were flown to Miami and put up at the hotel for four nights.
Bonuses at the firm are not lockstep, and are instead based on objective criteria like business origination and revenue — and at every level, they were well above the Milbank scale (which ranges from $15,000 to $115,000, plus special bonuses ranging from $6,000 to $25,000, in case you’ve forgotten).
So, how big of bonuses are we talking?
We’ve been told that lawyers at the firm were very handsomely rewarded for their work, with bonuses ranging from $50,000 for first-year associates to $100,000 or more for second-year associates. Every associate in the class of 2020 or earlier at the firm made at least $400,000 in bonus money, with the top bonus going to a fourth-year associate who took home more than $725,000. Yes, you read that correctly: A lucky associate at this firm received a bonus of nearly three quarters of a million dollars.
A very big congratulations to everyone at Bursor & Fisher. Associates at the firm must be absolutely thrilled with their gigantic bonuses!
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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 Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.