Guess who’s back? Back again? It’s Milbank — and this time, the firm is handing out buckets of cash for associates in the form of special bonuses! This is on top of the firm’s round of salary raises announced back in June, that the bulk of Biglaw has yet to match. It certainly looks like Biglaw writ large is going to have A LOT of catching up to do when it comes to associate compensation.
In a memo sent out this morning, Scott A. Edelman, Milbank’s chair, wrote, “In recognition of your exceptional efforts, we are pleased to announce that we will be paying special bonuses to all associates and special counsel globally.”
Check out what the bonus scale looks like:
Congratulations to everyone at Milbank! Bonuses will be paid on before August 31, 2026.
Now, the question is, which firm will be the first to match Milbank? Which firm is willing to sign on to these special bonuses without first receiving a permission slip from Cravath? Time will tell, and hopefully these firms don’t keep associates waiting even longer than need be for this cash bump.
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates, so when your firm announces or matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus/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!
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of 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.