2020 End of Year Bonuses Forum

[Anonymous User]

Anyway, to get back to the topic, KE bonus calls are starting to go out. It sounds like it's going to be a good year. I'm an NSP in lit, with class, billed about 2k, and I'll be getting about 1.3x market (market being 140k, I'll get about 180k) with the qualifier that about 40k of that will go directly into our retirement funding, which is something KE does for all NSPs. KE is acknowledging the fall bonus that happened and including it as part of everyone's comp. Great news and it sounds like the firm had a very successful year. I'm curious to hear what some of my colleagues doing more like 2,500, 2,750 hours over on the transactional side are going to get, I wouldn't be surprised to hear 2x market and it would be well deserved. Good luck to everyone.

Potentially huge news at KE if with class rating/2000 hours are getting 1.3x multiplier with the special bonus included in the multiplier, like you got. It’s also possible you got a 1.4x on the “base” with the special added on top. Both would be welcome upturns for median associates and NSPs (with 3s and billing 2000).

Tomorrow will be the Kirkland day of reckoning...

It was 1.4x on the base with another 40k on top; it seems like they're applying the multiplier to the base and then giving the standard fall bonus on top of that. Yeah I think bonuses are going to be nuts this season for KE. Not quite 2008 "2.75x Cravath!" nuts but this is the healthiest multiplier I've seen in a long time. The firm is clearly doing very, very well.

[Anonymous User]

In preparation for tomorrow's "Holiday Toast" (short zoom thing in lieu of a holiday party) Paul Hastings sent us all bottles, which was a nice surprise.

Open it up, it's fucking juice.

GG PH, spending what has to be at least like $25 to courier (literally courier, not UPS or something) juice to associates. Just send us all Drizly cards and we could order our own champagne (or not, if we don't drink).

ETA: this feels bonus adjacent so just put it here.

[Anonymous User]

Kirkland bonus zoom call just ended right now.

COVID special bonus + higher than market bonuses for ALL associates in good standing with no minimum hours requirement. Implied that the Kirkland bonus multiple is better than previous years, no "cap" on the multiple for high billers. Individual bonus memos to go out later today.

[Anonymous User]

Quotes from presentation include: "better than ever before at the firm" and "levels higher than ever before"

[NoLongerALurker]

In preparation for tomorrow's "Holiday Toast" (short zoom thing in lieu of a holiday party) Paul Hastings sent us all bottles, which was a nice surprise.

Open it up, it's fucking juice.

GG PH, spending what has to be at least like $25 to courier (literally courier, not UPS or something) juice to associates. Just send us all Drizly cards and we could order our own champagne (or not, if we don't drink).

ETA: this feels bonus adjacent so just put it here.

[Anonymous User]

Since it doesn’t look like it’s been reported. McDermott - COVID bonus for all (no hours req) and market bonus with typical hours restrictions with portion of market bonus for lower hours (which is inconsistent with recent approach) paid in December. Additional bonuses during q1 for thresholds above 2000 and good reviews.

[Anonymous User]

The whole thing is galling. Do they think we are stupid? Just be honest and say you don’t want to do it. We just had a firm call yesterday with management bragging about how this is the best year ever and we are outperforming all our peers. Then you say only half our “peer group” is giving special bonuses. It’s almost insulting to the intelligence. Just be honest and transparent. Because it is easy to see that all, or almost all, the firms that are our real peers are giving the special bonuses. And on the other hand they always brag about our peers being the likes of Latham. Obviously, they are cherry picking a different peer group when deciding on bonuses. So when they want to brag about how great we are, they select a peer group that is the best of the best. But when it comes to deciding bonuses, they are choosing a peer group that is much less elite in order to be cheap on bonuses. After a tough year, the lack of honesty is quite annoying. Especially when they constantly brag about how great the firm is doing financially (apparently we are up year over year and they say many of our peers are down 10-15%). Maybe if you guys lambaste them for this nonsense they will actually do what they say. If they want to be a “market leader” and pay “market bonuses”, both of which are things they said on the call, then the market is clear, it is the standard Cravath bonus scale plus special bonuses. If you do not pay special bonuses, you are way less than market for senior associates and certainly not a market leader. If you want to talk the talk then walk the walk. But they talk elite and walk below average.

DLA anon beautifully sums it up.

[Anonymous User]

Quotes from presentation include: "better than ever before at the firm" and "levels higher than ever before"

Caught an audio recording of the town hall, if anyone is interested. Uploaded it to SndUp! audio sharing and it's available at this link: https://sndup.net/339p

[Anonymous User]

[deleted]

[thelawyler]

In that poster's situation, if you were a 6th year and 7th year in those two years, at a firm with a billable cliff, you'd have made 70-90k less depending on what the top-up for the high hours are at these firms.

You and others continue to ignore the argument that having a billable minimum gives you something to aim for (nothing more, nothing less). I'd much rather two years at just above 2k than one year at 1600 and another at 2400. If done properly, a billable minimum gives you the comfort to say hell no I'm not working 2700 in one year regardless of how light I'll be, while still knowing you'll get your bonus at year's end because you hit expectations.

Yes, because you can absolutely control this. You picked the most ideal situation. How about a situation where you bill 2100, 2100 and then 1800 during an off year. And that final year is your biggest bonus year at 90k (with special bonus, 120-130k). That's a lot of comp left on the table for factors completely out of your control.

[Definitely Not North]

it's so stupid that ATL does their chart by order of announcement and not Vault or Amlaw. I want to see if my firm's peer firms announced, not whatever mess this is

[Definitely Not North]

it's so stupid that ATL does their chart by order of announcement and not Vault or Amlaw. I want to see if my firm's peer firms announced, not whatever mess this is

@ STACI ZARETSKY + KATHRYN RUBINO

we know y'all read this thread. can you fix this. it should be top 100 with blanks for firms that haven't announced

[Anonymous User]

A different DLA anon here. I can tell you right now it is fucking MUTINY in the Associate Committee email chain. People are fucking PISSED. I'm sort of chuckling at how this entire thing is imploding. People are saying they will rage quit.

Apparently they'll convey the "concerns" that associates have over the bonus fiasco but I'm pessimistic that mgmt will just come back and tell us to pound sand.

[August Wilson]

A different DLA anon here. I can tell you right now it is fucking MUTINY in the Associate Committee email chain. People are fucking PISSED. I'm sort of chuckling at how this entire thing is imploding. People are saying they will rage quit.

Apparently they'll convey the "concerns" that associates have over the bonus fiasco but I'm pessimistic that mgmt will just come back and tell us to pound sand.

you guys should forward them the ATL scorecard to see "Yes" in the special bonus category for almost every firm on the chart (granted some had hours requirements). It's absurd to suggest that the special bonuses aren't market at this point.

[Anonymous User]

In that poster's situation, if you were a 6th year and 7th year in those two years, at a firm with a billable cliff, you'd have made 70-90k less depending on what the top-up for the high hours are at these firms.

You and others continue to ignore the argument that having a billable minimum gives you something to aim for (nothing more, nothing less). I'd much rather two years at just above 2k than one year at 1600 and another at 2400. If done properly, a billable minimum gives you the comfort to say hell no I'm not working 2700 in one year regardless of how light I'll be, while still knowing you'll get your bonus at year's end because you hit expectations.

Yes, because you can absolutely control this. You picked the most ideal situation. How about a situation where you bill 2100, 2100 and then 1800 during an off year. And that final year is your biggest bonus year at 90k (with special bonus, 120-130k). That's a lot of comp left on the table for factors completely out of your control.

Same anon. You're also cherry picking facts. As I said earlier ITT, I don't know anybody at my firm who didn't have a fair opportunity to hit their hours. Sure, you might have to pick up some more pro bono or work out of your practice group, but you still hit hours either way. My firm also doesn't punish you for a slow department department, either.

Listen, I 100% agree that it's infinitely better to go to a no minimum than a firm that docks bonuses for missing the minimum by 1 hour or punishes associates for slow practice groups without giving them an opportunity to make it up elsewhere (e.g., with small pro bono caps). But there are legitimate reasons why someone would pick a firm with a minimum and safeguards to help make sure you can hit that every year. Those include the ability to avoid 2700 hour years and higher comp in the event that you have one. And yes, a no minimum firm that compensates you higher for extra hours is the best of everything from a comp perspective. But again there are other factors that would push someone away from those firms, like the fact that most of those are sweatshops (think K&E).

No firm is perfect, so can we all just admit that there are benefits to each approach if implemented properly? We can go back to shaming A&P and DLA and any firm that punished associates in slow groups.

[Anonymous User]

Any information on Greenberg Traurig?

Non-junior associate in non-NYC office. Anon for obvious reasons.

[objctnyrhnr]

This DLA thing seems very strange to me. I remember personally noting that Dla and Morgan Lewis did not furlough or reduce salary this year when a number of firms around their vault level did. An anon associate here can correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Dla also move up to 190k scale pretty promptly and also pay out that random summer bonus a couple years ago?

Anyway, they clearly invested a number of resources to at least appear (Comp wise) to be directly at market. Doesn’t it seem a little penny wise and pound foolish to fail to do that for the first time in a while over these little bonuses?

[Definitely Not North]

Any information on Greenberg Traurig?

Non-junior associate in non-NYC office. Anon for obvious reasons.

if there's a firm that's gonna stiff you, it's Greenberg

[Anonymous User]

Gibson Dunn announcing individual bonuses this week and early next. Unsurprisingly, market + for high billers.

Received special Covid bonus at my class year, earned normal bonus equivalent to year ahead of me.

[Anonymous User]

Gibson Dunn announcing individual bonuses this week and early next. Unsurprisingly, market + for high billers.

Received special Covid bonus at my class year, earned normal bonus equivalent to year ahead of me.

What kind of hours makes a “high biller” at GDC who would earn a bonus like that?

[Anonymous User]

Gibson Dunn announcing individual bonuses this week and early next. Unsurprisingly, market + for high billers.

Received special Covid bonus at my class year, earned normal bonus equivalent to year ahead of me.

What kind of hours makes a “high biller” at GDC who would earn a bonus like that?

GDC Anon

Only have my personal experience, but I was at ~2200.

[Anonymous User]

A different DLA anon here. I can tell you right now it is fucking MUTINY in the Associate Committee email chain. People are fucking PISSED. I'm sort of chuckling at how this entire thing is imploding. People are saying they will rage quit.

Apparently they'll convey the "concerns" that associates have over the bonus fiasco but I'm pessimistic that mgmt will just come back and tell us to pound sand.

Another DLA anon here. Has the Associate Committee said anything to the partners yet? Obviously furious and will look to leave if the issue isn’t addressed or, at a minimum, a reason isn’t provided for paying bonuses well below market.

[Anonymous User]

A different DLA anon here. I can tell you right now it is fucking MUTINY in the Associate Committee email chain. People are fucking PISSED. I'm sort of chuckling at how this entire thing is imploding. People are saying they will rage quit.

Apparently they'll convey the "concerns" that associates have over the bonus fiasco but I'm pessimistic that mgmt will just come back and tell us to pound sand.

Another DLA anon here. Has the Associate Committee said anything to the partners yet? Obviously furious and will look to leave if the issue isn’t addressed or, at a minimum, a reason isn’t provided for paying bonuses well below market.

Yet another DLA anon. The excuse our OMP gave us in the summer for not paying was that it would be unfair to staff who didn’t get their normal raises. This is obvious BS, the partners can both true up staff and give special bonuses, and besides why would the staff think it’s more fair for the partners to pocket that money?
Either the partners misunderstood the fallout of this decision (which is my hope, since it means they might reverse the decision), or they’ve finally accepted the top 50 firms dont all need to pay the same as true top tier firms and are fine signaling that DLA is not a top tier firm.

[objctnyrhnr]

A different DLA anon here. I can tell you right now it is fucking MUTINY in the Associate Committee email chain. People are fucking PISSED. I'm sort of chuckling at how this entire thing is imploding. People are saying they will rage quit.

Apparently they'll convey the "concerns" that associates have over the bonus fiasco but I'm pessimistic that mgmt will just come back and tell us to pound sand.

Another DLA anon here. Has the Associate Committee said anything to the partners yet? Obviously furious and will look to leave if the issue isn’t addressed or, at a minimum, a reason isn’t provided for paying bonuses well below market.

Yet another DLA anon. The excuse our OMP gave us in the summer for not paying was that it would be unfair to staff who didn’t get their normal raises. This is obvious BS, the partners can both true up staff and give special bonuses, and besides why would the staff think it’s more fair for the partners to pocket that money?
Either the partners misunderstood the fallout of this decision (which is my hope, since it means they might reverse the decision), or they’ve finally accepted the top 50 firms dont all need to pay the same as true top tier firms and are fine signaling that DLA is not a top tier firm.

Sounds like Dla hasn’t given numbers or a memo yet, right? Is this standard, or do you think it’s possible that they gave themselves some cover to either 1) reverse their decision or 2) pay the whole amount without labeling it as special/covid (“what? We said we were gonna pay market* the whole time so we did”)? The second scenario would actually be pretty ideal because it might provide a step forward for the market to solidify the total standard amount as the new market bonus.

Thoughts?

*as a related observation, I’ve said from the beginning that labeling something covid bonuses in this climate with all the death and economic pain that’s being felt was optically a poor play from the beginning from a PR and I suppose a client relations perspective by all of the firms that did it. So given my point from a prior post re all of the resources Dla has put into being a v50 or whatever and staying at market throughout, I’m wondering if it is more the optics/labeling of these bonuses as such and less the extra 20k that turned them off.

[Anonymous User]

Gibson Dunn announcing individual bonuses this week and early next. Unsurprisingly, market + for high billers.

Received special Covid bonus at my class year, earned normal bonus equivalent to year ahead of me.

What kind of hours makes a “high biller” at GDC who would earn a bonus like that?

GDC Anon

Only have my personal experience, but I was at ~2200.

I’ve never heard of the above market bonus at GDC and billed 2400 last year. Is it true for all class years or were my efforts not so exceptional?