Kirkland Bonuses? Forum

[Anonymous User]

3100 hours. 1.5x. Third year. Buddy is a second year with the same hours and got a higher multiple.

X of last year’s base or this year’s?

1.5 is the multiple of market bonus (not including special). My buddy, a year below, got a higher multiple on the same hours. That's what I think is total bullshit. The firm clearly manipulates the matrix to inflate the multiple on the first and second years with the same hours (and rating) as the third. It saves them money and it falsely suggests the average multiple on the same hours hits third years.

I'm formatting my resume this week.

[Anonymous User]

have people actually received emails?

or are you all just checking your memos on the server?

[Anonymous User]

2016 comp year with hours above 2500, 2 on review, 1.1x multiplier (less than last year at ~1.2x). Wasnt looking to leave prior to this but absolutely leaving in January and getting a sweet signing bonus. Firm leadership really missed the mark here....

[Anonymous User]

2016 comp year with hours above 2500, 2 on review, 1.1x multiplier (less than last year at ~1.2x). Wasnt looking to leave prior to this but absolutely leaving in January and getting a sweet signing bonus. Firm leadership really missed the mark here....

This to me absolutely suggests that these bonus multipliers are practice group dependent. There's no way someone billing 2500 w/ an above class rating in corporate is getting a 1.1x multiplier. No way. Are you in a niche group, e.g., tax? Or did you piss someone off on the Firm Committee?

[Anonymous User]

All of you are saying there was lots of attrition last year and also that ppp is way up. Shouldn't the partners conclude then that attrition isn't a problem and if anything cut bonuses?

[Anonymous User]

Incredibly disappointed the firm is paying market bonuses to everyone who billed under 2000. I wonder though how many people there are who billed under 2000, and why someone is billing under 2000 when so many are 2500+. Is this a way of pushing people to take some of the load off of high billers?

People are billing under 2000 because they're smart enough to turn down work and not give away another 50 workdays worth of work for nominal amounts.

This times a million. Take 2 associates the same class year but one gets market at 1800 and one gets 1.3x at 2600. Let’s say that overachiever makes an additional $30,000 because of their efforts. That’s 800 extra hours at $37.50 per billed hour - not taking into account the nonbillable hours that go along with the 800.

Taking it further, if these two are 5th years, the firm is basically making $962.50 per extra hour on the second associate. So the firm makes a cool $770,000 off the associate, the second associate gains $30,000 for 800 hours and the first associate can sleep an extra 800 hours. Which one is more valuable to an associate at the end of the day?

Except that the second associate billing 2600 is getting way more than just 1.3x.

Ok - even if they get 1.6x that’s still only $75/hour. If you take base pay and divide by 2000, your base pay per hour is way higher. Incremental hours at K&E above 2000 are not actually valued the same as the hours up to 2000. You’d have to be getting at least 3x market for it to be valued the same.

I personally value my time at more than $75 an hour. I’d rather sleep an extra hour than only get an extra $75.

Seems my prior message above was very on the mark. Seems most are getting very low multipliers even with super high hours. Firm definitely missed the mark. I’m glad I settled in at 1850 hours.

[Anonymous User]

2016 comp year with hours above 2500, 2 on review, 1.1x multiplier (less than last year at ~1.2x). Wasnt looking to leave prior to this but absolutely leaving in January and getting a sweet signing bonus. Firm leadership really missed the mark here....

This to me absolutely suggests that these bonus multipliers are practice group dependent. There's no way someone billing 2500 w/ an above class rating in corporate is getting a 1.1x multiplier. No way. Are you in a niche group, e.g., tax? Or did you piss someone off on the Firm Committee?

Unfortunately for your hypothesis, I'm in M&A...

[Anonymous User]

2016 comp year with hours above 2500, 2 on review, 1.1x multiplier (less than last year at ~1.2x). Wasnt looking to leave prior to this but absolutely leaving in January and getting a sweet signing bonus. Firm leadership really missed the mark here....

This to me absolutely suggests that these bonus multipliers are practice group dependent. There's no way someone billing 2500 w/ an above class rating in corporate is getting a 1.1x multiplier. No way. Are you in a niche group, e.g., tax? Or did you piss someone off on the Firm Committee?

Unfortunately for your hypothesis, I'm in M&A...

I can't make sense of this then. It's so off the mark that I'd reach out to a share partner you trust and raise this. You seem to genuinely be an instance where there may have actually been a scrivner's error. You're in M&A w/ an above class rating and 2,500+ hours w/ a 1.1x multiplier off the DPW base? No way that's right.

[Anonymous User]

lmfao at Kirkland shitting the bed like this when the firm is about to announce a $6b revenue year; reminder to all associates and NSPs: they truly don't give a shit about you; the firm is run for the SPs and if you had any delusion to the contrary, here's your reminder

[Anonymous User]

All of you are saying there was lots of attrition last year and also that ppp is way up. Shouldn't the partners conclude then that attrition isn't a problem and if anything cut bonuses?

Attrition is a long-run problem that can affect the firm in hard to predict ways for years to come. It isn't instantaneously connected to PPP. You can have a skyrocketing PPP in a given year but still be dealing with a massive attrition problem. Again, attrition comes to roost in the long term, not in a few months.

[Anonymous User]

1st year. Corp-Gen. Shade over 2,500 pro-rated. 1.36x. 1.7x for a shade under 2,900 pro-rated for another 1st year I know.

[Anonymous User]

2016 comp year with hours above 2500, 2 on review, 1.1x multiplier (less than last year at ~1.2x). Wasnt looking to leave prior to this but absolutely leaving in January and getting a sweet signing bonus. Firm leadership really missed the mark here....

This to me absolutely suggests that these bonus multipliers are practice group dependent. There's no way someone billing 2500 w/ an above class rating in corporate is getting a 1.1x multiplier. No way. Are you in a niche group, e.g., tax? Or did you piss someone off on the Firm Committee?

Unfortunately for your hypothesis, I'm in M&A...

Did you get your memo via server or via email?

[Anonymous User]

2016 comp year with hours above 2500, 2 on review, 1.1x multiplier (less than last year at ~1.2x). Wasnt looking to leave prior to this but absolutely leaving in January and getting a sweet signing bonus. Firm leadership really missed the mark here....

This to me absolutely suggests that these bonus multipliers are practice group dependent. There's no way someone billing 2500 w/ an above class rating in corporate is getting a 1.1x multiplier. No way. Are you in a niche group, e.g., tax? Or did you piss someone off on the Firm Committee?

Unfortunately for your hypothesis, I'm in M&A...

Did you get your memo via server or via email?

Got the email around 6:30

[Anonymous User]

Midlevel in Corporate, 2900-3100, above class rating. Little over 1.55x (base) + special. Not thrilled to say the least.

Another posted mentioned Katten's bonuses. Comparing to that, my bonus is a measly $6-7K higher than what a Katten associate will receive for 2400, 500+ fewer hours...

And it's only more egregious when you factor in differences in billing rates and revenue per lawyer between the two firms.

In my view, the firm missed the mark last year and saw the consequences shortly after bonus payouts. They had a chance to correct that this go around, and I was optimistic that they would do so for several reasons -- mass departures following last year's bonus season and another year where RPL and PPP are inevitably going to significantly increase due to insane hours across the board -- but, once again, they proved me wrong. And, given how hot the lateral market is, particularly relative to the end of 2020/very beginning of 2021, I can't imagine that the number of departures following the 2020 bonus season will come anywhere near the numbers we're going to see now.

Are you planning to leave?

Was I previously planning on making a lateral move this coming year? No. Will I continue to ignore every recruiting email/call that we're all inundated with? No.

I hedged in case we didn't see the "market shattering" numbers that I was hoping for and have been deliberately taking it pretty slow since the start of the new billable year. Was already planning to lateral early 2023 for personal reasons, but, if I don't expedite those plans and make a move now, I have no issue finishing this billable year sub-2000 and collecting a near-$100K market bonus next December, before telling these greedy bastards to kick rocks come Jan 1, 2023.

[Anonymous User]

Corp midlevel, standard merit ranking (3, but same as all others in class year), good review, 3200 hours — 1.85x multiplier. No complaints here.

[Anonymous User]

Corp midlevel, standard merit ranking (3, but same as all others in class year), good review, 3200 hours — 1.85x multiplier. No complaints here.

LOL

[Anonymous User]

second year in prominent M&A practice. recruiter quoted a $125K signing bonus to join K&E in call this week.

very odd that they're throwing those around and screwing juniors billing 2500+

[Anonymous User]

Corp midlevel, standard merit ranking (3, but same as all others in class year), good review, 3200 hours — 1.85x multiplier. No complaints here.

LOL

This. You should really set your expectations higher. You're a profit machine.

[Anonymous User]

.

[Anonymous User]

honestly hate to ask but here goes - putting aside the actual memos we'll get monday, did any nsp get a call today?

[Anonymous User]

honestly hate to ask but here goes - putting aside the actual memos we'll get monday, did any nsp get a call today?

Nsp here, and I did not get a call.

[Anonymous User]

Corp midlevel, standard merit ranking (3, but same as all others in class year), good review, 3200 hours — 1.85x multiplier. No complaints here.

LOL

This. You should really set your expectations higher. You're a profit machine.

Even if only 2,000 of those hours actually made their way to a client bill (I'll bet it was more, K&E ruthless in billing lately), and even assuming a very generous overhead allocation to this midlevel, plus wages and bonus and benefits, partners made over $1 million off of him/her. If 3000 hours if this person's time made it on to a bill, then almost $2MM. Of that extra $1MM, this person's bonus went up by what, 70k?

[Anonymous User]

Corp midlevel, standard merit ranking (3, but same as all others in class year), good review, 3200 hours — 1.85x multiplier. No complaints here.

1.85 of base plus special or just base?

[Anonymous User]

Midlevel, 2100 hours and above class rating, worse than 1.1x (even without the special portion factored into the multiplier).

I was already considering leaving and now I will be calling recruiters on Monday

[Anonymous User]

Corp midlevel, standard merit ranking (3, but same as all others in class year), good review, 3200 hours — 1.85x multiplier. No complaints here.

LOL

This. You should really set your expectations higher. You're a profit machine.

Even if only 2,000 of those hours actually made their way to a client bill (I'll bet it was more, K&E ruthless in billing lately), and even assuming a very generous overhead allocation to this midlevel, plus wages and bonus and benefits, partners made over $1 million off of him/her. If 3000 hours if this person's time made it on to a bill, then almost $2MM. Of that extra $1MM, this person's bonus went up by what, 70k?

This person is either a current 3rd or 4th year (given the comment about all others in their class getting a 3 rating). So very likely their bonus didn't even go up $70k, more likely $35-40k given their bonus is based on their 2nd or 3rd year, which further drives home the point.