Biglaw: How do Bonuses work?
Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 10:21 am
Are bonuses based on how many hours you've billed, or is it also seniority/position? I would love it if some of you guys in biglaw could shed light on this for me.
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This is impossible to google.djbatista wrote:Are bonuses based on how many hours you've billed, or is it also seniority/position? I would love it if some of you guys in biglaw could shed light on this for me.
Thanks, sorry about that.A. Nony Mouse wrote:Moved to correct forum.
Yes because you charge on a billable hour so the idiot made the firm more money than you.chimp wrote:so most firms would tend to give a bigger bonus to an associate who reaches billable hour minimums while doing mediocre, but passable work relatively slowly than an associate who falls short of the hour minimums while doing efficient, high-quality work?
dem perverse incentivesJohannDeMann wrote:Yes because you charge on a billable hour so the idiot made the firm more money than you.chimp wrote:so most firms would tend to give a bigger bonus to an associate who reaches billable hour minimums while doing mediocre, but passable work relatively slowly than an associate who falls short of the hour minimums while doing efficient, high-quality work?
In my experience, the latter group of associates does much better come bonus season, especially with respect to junior associates. But typically this problem corrects itself over time: associates who do mediocre work get less work and then have trouble hitting their hours, while associates who do high-quality and efficient work are in high demand and get enough work to make their hours.chimp wrote:so most firms would tend to give a bigger bonus to an associate who reaches billable hour minimums while doing mediocre, but passable work relatively slowly than an associate who falls short of the hour minimums while doing efficient, high-quality work?
Sounds like a pretty shitty firm.hlsperson1111 wrote:In my experience, the latter group of associates does much better come bonus season, especially with respect to junior associates. But typically this problem corrects itself over time: associates who do mediocre work get less work and then have trouble hitting their hours, while associates who do high-quality and efficient work are in high demand and get enough work to make their hours.chimp wrote:so most firms would tend to give a bigger bonus to an associate who reaches billable hour minimums while doing mediocre, but passable work relatively slowly than an associate who falls short of the hour minimums while doing efficient, high-quality work?
I work at a firm where bonus compensation is pretty opaque, but comes down to some combination of hours, reviews, whether the firm wants to keep you around for another year, and the firm's financial health. We don't pay lockstep bonuses and bonuses are only loosely tied to NYC market.
Jones Day Cleveland?hlsperson1111 wrote:I'd take my job over my classmates' at "market-paying" NYC firms any day.
Yeah, it sounds wonderful to have too many associates and not enough work, opaque bonuses, and coworkers who do "mediocre" work (i.e., can't be trusted). Is the superiority of your HLS degree (i.e., the feeling of being better than a bunch of dumb associates) the single factor that drives your satisfaction?hlsperson1111 wrote:I'd take my job over my classmates' at "market-paying" NYC firms any day.
Jones Day...Columbus?hlsperson1111 wrote:I focus on doing the best job I can do rather than worrying about the people around me or other things outside of my control. I like my job and feel grateful that I like it (because I know a lot of people in biglaw don't like theirs). Thanks for your two cents, though!