2015 Biglaw Boneus Thread Forum

[Big Shrimpin]

bone us bone us bone us

[Anonymous User]

Think bonuses will remain unchanged. But this is coming from someone who left a firm that pays NY market bonuses to go to regional big law, arguably mid law.

[BigZuck]

Think bonuses will remain unchanged. But this is coming from someone who left a firm that pays NY market bonuses to go to regional big law, arguably mid law.

Cool, cool

[jbagelboy]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

[Big Shrimpin]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

this is what I've been saying

i hate this biglol industry with a fiery passion

wish I was PREFTIGIOUS enuff 2 work at the boutiques that pay above market via their own formulas not tied to market rates

[anonnymouse]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

this is what I've been saying

i hate this biglol industry with a fiery passion

wish I was PREFTIGIOUS enuff 2 work at the boutiques that pay above market via their own formulas not tied to market rates

NOPREFTIGE, NOBONUS, NOBREAKFAST. The scrimps trifecta.

[Big Shrimpin]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

this is what I've been saying

i hate this biglol industry with a fiery passion

wish I was PREFTIGIOUS enuff 2 work at the boutiques that pay above market via their own formulas not tied to market rates

NOPREFTIGE, NOBONUS, NOBREAKFAST. The scrimps trifecta.

it ain't easy bein shrimpy

[TLSModBot]

This is, at best, Mid Shrimpin.

Today is definitely the day, true believers.

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

This industry just makes a complete fucking mockery out of Econ 101 labor pricing models.

[Anonymous User]

this is what yall get on friday waiting on your desks in the morning and it's not even the expensive one

[Johann]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

This industry just makes a complete fucking mockery out of Econ 101 labor pricing models.

how so? big shrimpin still at work today entering those billables.

[SemperLegal]

New theory, the NY to 190 thread was too effective. Cravath is afraid to announce its massive bonuses before its competitors announce stagnant bonuses and elevated basepay, forcing them to pay both.

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

This industry just makes a complete fucking mockery out of Econ 101 labor pricing models.

how so? big shrimpin still at work today entering those billables.

TBF, he's billed the entirety of #NOBONUS threading to "Researching 6th Cir. generalized grievance doctrine post-Lexmark."

[patentlitigatrix]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

This industry just makes a complete fucking mockery out of Econ 101 labor pricing models.

Totally. I explained the lock-step bonus structure to my other half who is in banking. He kept asking how the bonuses are tied to individual performance since not everyone who meets their hours cannot possible do the same amount/quality of work, and how bonuses are tied to firm performance. Excellent points, and should be primary considerations, but really aren't.

[Big Shrimpin]

So if they just never announce and never gave out any bonuses and maintained complete silence, how lol would that be

This industry just makes a complete fucking mockery out of Econ 101 labor pricing models.

how so? big shrimpin still at work today entering those billables.

TBF, he's billed the entirety of #NOBONUS threading to "Researching 6th Cir. generalized grievance doctrine post-Lexmark."

[Anonymous User]

So doesn't this make it the latest that there has ever been a first announcement?

No. In 2006, Milbank announced first on December 8th (and the numbers were good).

http://abovethelaw.com/2006/12/associat ... ouncement/

To be honest, that bonus scale sucks. Were bonuses really that flat generally back in 2006 across all firms? If so, firms may actually be paying out a similar aggregate amount in bonuses now--bonuses just accrue more to higher class years and less to first-years.

Comparing Milbank 2006 to DPW 2014:

30 - 15 (M+15)
35 - 25 (M+10)
40 - 50 (D+10)
45 - 65 (D+15)
50 - 80 (D+30)
55 - 90 (D+35)
60 - 100 (D+40)

Keep in mind that there's been about 18% inflation since 2006, plus salaries had just gotten bumped from 125 to 145 a year earlier. And, salaries bumped again one month later in January 2007 to 160.

All true -- but people spend a lot of time talking about first-year comp without talking about comp for more senior associates, and that exaggerates the problem because, while first-year comp has fallen significantly when adjusted for inflation, comp for senior associates is up even with inflation adjustments. A sixth year in 2014 made more, adjusted for inflation, than a sixth-year in 2006. It's not all doom and gloom, and I'll take useless first years being paid less if it means being paid more when I'm actually valuable. I can see why people who go into biglaw intending to jump ship in two years don't see it that way, but I don't see why biglaw firms should value those people much anyway.

[Desert Fox]

[krads153]

Is that even true? Seniors make more now than in 2006, adjusting for inflation? I don't know what types of goods/services are used for calculating CPI, but it's hard to believe given how rents have nearly doubled in places like NYC and SF since 2006...

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

Is that even true? Seniors make more now than in 2006, adjusting for inflation? I don't know what types of goods/services are used for calculating CPI, but it's hard to believe given how rents have nearly doubled in places like NYC and SF since 2006...

EDIT: Yeah, by the sixth year you're making more than '06, inflation-adjusted.

[Anonymous User]

Is that even true? Seniors make more now than in 2006, adjusting for inflation? I don't know what types of goods/services are used for calculating CPI, but it's hard to believe given how rents have nearly doubled in places like NYC and SF since 2006...

EDIT: Yeah, by the sixth year you're making more than '06, inflation-adjusted.

meh they have a ton of responsibility anyway

[KirkwoodGAO]

So doesn't this make it the latest that there has ever been a first announcement?

No. In 2006, Milbank announced first on December 8th (and the numbers were good).

http://abovethelaw.com/2006/12/associat ... ouncement/

To be honest, that bonus scale sucks. Were bonuses really that flat generally back in 2006 across all firms? If so, firms may actually be paying out a similar aggregate amount in bonuses now--bonuses just accrue more to higher class years and less to first-years.

Comparing Milbank 2006 to DPW 2014:

30 - 15 (M+15)
35 - 25 (M+10)
40 - 50 (D+10)
45 - 65 (D+15)
50 - 80 (D+30)
55 - 90 (D+35)
60 - 100 (D+40)

Keep in mind that there's been about 18% inflation since 2006, plus salaries had just gotten bumped from 125 to 145 a year earlier. And, salaries bumped again one month later in January 2007 to 160.

All true -- but people spend a lot of time talking about first-year comp without talking about comp for more senior associates, and that exaggerates the problem because, while first-year comp has fallen significantly when adjusted for inflation, comp for senior associates is up even with inflation adjustments. A sixth year in 2014 made more, adjusted for inflation, than a sixth-year in 2006. It's not all doom and gloom, and I'll take useless first years being paid less if it means being paid more when I'm actually valuable. I can see why people who go into biglaw intending to jump ship in two years don't see it that way, but I don't see why biglaw firms should value those people much anyway.

In 2006, a sixth year made $230,000 base and got a 55k bonus. $285,000 (nominal), $334,671 (real in 2014 dollars). http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl? ... year2=2014

In 2014, a sixth year made $250,000 base and got a 90k bonus. $340,000 (nominal and real in 2014 dollars).

So, it's almost the same, even before you adjust for the fact that the BLS CPI data probably underestimates inflation in a city like NY, where rents (and biglaw billing rates) have gone up significantly.

[Traynor Brah]

Is that even true? Seniors make more now than in 2006, adjusting for inflation? I don't know what types of goods/services are used for calculating CPI, but it's hard to believe given how rents have nearly doubled in places like NYC and SF since 2006...

EDIT: Yeah, by the sixth year you're making more than '06, inflation-adjusted.

I think he was asking w/r/t spending power in an NYC or SF, in particular, which I also would have a harder time believing.

[Anonymous User]

It's still pretty close. Rents have gone up more in NYC, but the CPI does include some amount of housing cost increases already.

[Desert Fox]

[gchatbrah]

New theory, the NY to 190 thread was too effective. Cravath is afraid to announce its massive bonuses before its competitors announce stagnant bonuses and elevated basepay, forcing them to pay both.

This was hysterical. Well done.