Springtime Bonus Watch 2012

Most major law firms didn't pay spring bonuses this year -- and maybe that was a good thing, given the warning signs ahead for Biglaw.

Once again, Cahill Gordon paid mid-year bonuses to its associates. How much are we talking about, and how do the latest Cahill bonuses compare to prior years' bonuses?

Quinn Emanuel has paid its summer bonuses. How are QE associates reacting?

Some associates at Boies Schiller are wondering about missing or smaller April bonus payments. What's going on?

Quinn's spring bonuses look to be better than S&C spring bonuses (while the so-called "market leader," Cravath, continues to pretend spring bonuses don't exist). How much are we talking about?

Sullivan & Cromwell has announced spring bonuses. And they're WEAK....

It's International Be Kind to Lawyers Day, and the best way to be kind to lawyers in Biglaw is to show them the money. That being said, where are the spring bonuses?

Sullivan & Cromwell plans to pay spring bonuses, but how big will they be? Big enough to require matching from other firms?

David Lat asked H. Rodgin Cohen of Sullivan & Cromwell about spring bonuses. What did Cohen have to say on the subject?

Are Cravath associates now getting spring bonuses? What gives?

Today is March 1. By this time last year, about a dozen firms had announced spring bonuses, as you can see from our prior coverage. This year? Crickets. What's going on?

Last year, Sullivan & Cromwell announced spring bonuses on January 21st. Today is February 3rd. It might be time to panic. The conceit of this entire bonus season has been that the ridiculously low bonuses bar set by Cravath, Swaine & Moore was just an opening figure. People really didn't expect that Cravath would halve bonuses. Because really, it's CSM. They can count. Their profits went up. Why would they pay out 50% less than last year? Well, we guess the answer "because they can" is going to have to be enough for Biglaw associates everywhere....

At the start of this new year, what is the outlook like for legal employment? There's certainly a fair amount of bad news out there, particularly for recent law school graduates. But what about for denizens of Biglaw, the lawyers fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to work at the nation's largest law firms? What does 2012 hold for them? Earlier this month, Elie made some predictions for the legal profession. Lat will follow in his footsteps and venture some prophecies of his own for the year....

Earlier this week, Kirkland & Ellis associates started receiving phone calls about their bonuses. Many associates are reporting that their bonuses "shattered the market." It's important to note that Kirkland has a "black box" bonus structure, in which the payouts are highly individualized and based on performance and hours. Every year, there are some winners and losers. And right now, we're hearing a lot of chatter from K&E winners....

It seems that founding partner John Quinn isn't the only one at Quinn Emanuel with a surplus of Benjamins right about now. On Friday, the litigation powerhouse announced its 2011 year-end bonus scale -- and, for the most part, it's more generous than the benchmark Cravath bonus scale....

A tipster let us in on an overheard conversation between Cravath partner Susan Webster and a Biglaw partner at a different firm. When we contacted her, Webster told us that the tipster mischaracterized the nature of her accidentally public conversation. But why don't you take a look, and prepare yourself for the possibility of a very sad spring....

Sullivan & Cromwell has shown up to Bigfoot the partnership of Cravath -- sort of. It has announced a year-end bonus scale that is very similar to, but slightly better than, the Cravath bonus scale. And, more importantly, it has promised spring bonuses. Let's get into the specifics....