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Bonuses will be _____ from last year

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mvp99

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by mvp99 » Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:31 pm

PMan99 wrote:
fats provolone wrote:lol that's ridiculous. what is another 10k
probably why they didnt go full dpw
from the partner's perspective is nothing..

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Old Gregg

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Old Gregg » Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:40 pm

i mean from the partner's perspective it can go both ways. "what's $10k?" is that kind of argument.

bigger issue here is that other firms with lower PPP are paying more. this doesnt send a good signal to associates you're trying to retain in a world where your firm is otherwise indistinguishable from those firms.

im frankly astounded by this. but IIRC, GDC sometimes pays more in its NYC office? a lot of CA firms do this. so they might match DPW in NYC, but not everywhere else. i guess their hope is that other CA firms will similarly cheap out..

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Desert Fox

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Desert Fox » Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:43 pm

zweitbester wrote:i mean from the partner's perspective it can go both ways. "what's $10k?" is that kind of argument.

bigger issue here is that other firms with lower PPP are paying more. this doesnt send a good signal to associates you're trying to retain in a world where your firm is otherwise indistinguishable from those firms.

im frankly astounded by this. but IIRC, GDC sometimes pays more in its NYC office? a lot of CA firms do this. so they might match DPW in NYC, but not everywhere else. i guess their hope is that other CA firms will similarly cheap out..
Yea its what 10k for two classes? That's probably 2.5k per partner. Weird choice.
Last edited by Desert Fox on Sat Jan 27, 2018 5:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

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fats provolone

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by fats provolone » Tue Dec 16, 2014 2:07 pm

just to be clear i meant "what's 10k" from the partners perspective. seems like a trivial amount to pay for the PR value of matching the top bonus schedule

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jbagelboy

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by jbagelboy » Tue Dec 16, 2014 4:22 pm

zweitbester wrote:i mean from the partner's perspective it can go both ways. "what's $10k?" is that kind of argument.

bigger issue here is that other firms with lower PPP are paying more. this doesnt send a good signal to associates you're trying to retain in a world where your firm is otherwise indistinguishable from those firms.

im frankly astounded by this. but IIRC, GDC sometimes pays more in its NYC office? a lot of CA firms do this. so they might match DPW in NYC, but not everywhere else. i guess their hope is that other CA firms will similarly cheap out..
Skadden won't cheapen out, Irell and Munger already essentially pay above market or black box, and Latham and Quinn do weird bonus shit anyway. Not sure who else in LA Gibson is competing with for talent.

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Old Gregg

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Old Gregg » Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:52 pm

im frankly astounded by this. but IIRC, GDC sometimes pays more in its NYC office? a lot of CA firms do this. so they might match DPW in NYC, but not everywhere else. i guess their hope is that other CA firms will similarly cheap out..
I was right

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fats provolone

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by fats provolone » Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:57 pm

still seems shitty, or do other CA firms pay under market enough to make it not weird?

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:08 pm

In GDC's defense, the associates at GDC bill waaaaaaaay less on average than at any of the big NYC firms. Average billables were like 1750 for associates this year.

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:34 pm

Anonymous User wrote:In GDC's defense, the associates at GDC bill waaaaaaaay less on average than at any of the big NYC firms. Average billables were like 1750 for associates this year.
Contrary to popular belief, most of the elite firms have a similar number for average billables. Skadden's average is about the same, or maybe a touch higher this year. Granted, that is a firmwide number, so NY may be higher, but I don't think most people work as hard as they say they do. The problem with big law is that average billables doesn't speak to how many people are working any given number of hours.

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fats provolone

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by fats provolone » Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:35 pm

also the atl story said someone in CA billed 2100+ and got a below-DPW bonus, right?

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by KM2016 » Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:18 pm

fats provolone wrote:still seems shitty, or do other CA firms pay under market enough to make it not weird?
No, most firms that pay NYC lock-step salaries in LA also historically match Cravath scale (when Cravath was the scale) in bonuses for LA associates. (Think Skadden, GDC, Milbank, PH, White & Case, Winston, etc.) That being said, the firms who don't pay lock-step NYC salaries in LA are a whole other story and a lot less consistent.

Given that GDC has always paid NYC lock-step salaries, this seems weird.

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:27 pm

anyone have a guess what Latham will do? Either in NYC or other major offices?

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:24 pm

Any word on Chicago-based firms (Mayer, Jenner, Sidley, etc.) announcing anything? Or outposts in Chicago (Skadden, Latham, etc.)?

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Johann

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Johann » Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:45 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Any word on Chicago-based firms (Mayer, Jenner, Sidley, etc.) announcing anything? Or outposts in Chicago (Skadden, Latham, etc.)?
sidley and jenner do individualized bonuses, no cravath scale. mayer and kirkland wreck the cravath scale. winston is the only onei think that follows cravath.

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:24 am

Anonymous User wrote:Any word on Chicago-based firms (Mayer, Jenner, Sidley, etc.) announcing anything? Or outposts in Chicago (Skadden, Latham, etc.)?
Rumor that Sidley was going to announce last week but postponed when market looked like it was moving to DPW. Some associates now think that's a sign that Sidley will use that as the general scale for the individual bonuses. I guess we'll see.

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by anonnymouse » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:31 am

JohannDeMann wrote:mayer and kirkland wreck the cravath scale.
Kirkland does. Mayer doesn't.

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Johann » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:52 am

anonnymouse wrote:
JohannDeMann wrote:mayer and kirkland wreck the cravath scale.
Kirkland does. Mayer doesn't.
friends have told me its hours based in chi. 23/2400 gets you like 2x cravath. mayers chi bonuses def beat its nyc bonuses. i dont work there so ill defer to you if you do.

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by anonnymouse » Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:41 am

JohannDeMann wrote:
anonnymouse wrote:
JohannDeMann wrote:mayer and kirkland wreck the cravath scale.
Kirkland does. Mayer doesn't.
friends have told me its hours based in chi. 23/2400 gets you like 2x cravath. mayers chi bonuses def beat its nyc bonuses. i dont work there so ill defer to you if you do.
Sorry, you may be right. My statement reflects info I have on NYC offices of both firms.

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:35 am

Wasn't Skadden's announcement firm wide? Old ATL searches don't seem to show separate announcements for each office either.

thelawyerguy

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by thelawyerguy » Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:08 am

Any news about DC firms?

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Desert Fox

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Desert Fox » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:35 pm

thelawyerguy wrote:Any news about DC firms?
I bet, like usual, the hometown firms cheap out with individual bonuses and the satellites ride the new york bonus train.
Last edited by Desert Fox on Sat Jan 27, 2018 5:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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fats provolone

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by fats provolone » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:36 pm

what a shithole

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:43 pm

Heard from a friend that Kirkland associates will find out about bonuses on Friday.

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:04 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:In GDC's defense, the associates at GDC bill waaaaaaaay less on average than at any of the big NYC firms. Average billables were like 1750 for associates this year.
Contrary to popular belief, most of the elite firms have a similar number for average billables. Skadden's average is about the same, or maybe a touch higher this year. Granted, that is a firmwide number, so NY may be higher, but I don't think most people work as hard as they say they do. The problem with big law is that average billables doesn't speak to how many people are working any given number of hours.
Original anon here.

The 1750 number includes senior associates at GDC who bill a shitton. The number for junior associates was closer to 1400. I would be absolutely shocked if Skadden juniors billed that little. Also, Skadden must have had a slow year because the numbers I was hearing during law school back in 2011 were nowhere near 1750. Even during the financial crisis, I thought Skadden associates were billing up a storm (according to a friend who went there).

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Old Gregg

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Re: 2014 Biglaw Bonus Thread

Post by Old Gregg » Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:26 pm

There is no way GDC attorneys bill that little as a whole, at least not in corporate or in litigation.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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