EOY Bonuses Forum

[JusticeJackson]

Has this news even been verified? Agree it’s very good news.

I’ve been crazy (but countercyclical practice so…)

Right. I don’t see it anywhere. Is it bullshit?

[Anonymous User]

Has this news even been verified? Agree it’s very good news.

I’ve been crazy (but countercyclical practice so…)

It's true

https://imgur.com/a/lsEuCxQ

[Anonymous User]

Has this news even been verified? Agree it’s very good news.

I’ve been crazy (but countercyclical practice so…)

It's true

https://imgur.com/a/lsEuCxQ

Do stub years get nothing?

[ChickenSalad]

Has this news even been verified? Agree it’s very good news.

I’ve been crazy (but countercyclical practice so…)

It's true

https://imgur.com/a/lsEuCxQ

Do stub years get nothing?

For the 3 months they worked? No

[Anonymous User]

Has this news even been verified? Agree it’s very good news.

I’ve been crazy (but countercyclical practice so…)

It's true

https://imgur.com/a/lsEuCxQ

Do stub years get nothing?

For the 3 months they worked? No

stubs at my firm get a pro-rated bonus...

[Anonymous User]

Has this news even been verified? Agree it’s very good news.

I’ve been crazy (but countercyclical practice so…)

It's true

https://imgur.com/a/lsEuCxQ

Do stub years get nothing?

For the 3 months they worked? No

stubs at my firm get a pro-rated bonus...

Same at my V20. Stiffing stubs seems like a bad recruitment method.

[Anonymous User]

Has this news even been verified? Agree it’s very good news.

I’ve been crazy (but countercyclical practice so…)

It's true

https://imgur.com/a/lsEuCxQ

Do stub years get nothing?

For the 3 months they worked? No

stubs at my firm get a pro-rated bonus...

Same at my V20. Stiffing stubs seems like a bad recruitment method.

My V20 provided a $10k+ stipend intended for bar expenses but I think it’s also meant to serve as a substitute to a stub bonus. I feel this is more preferable than having to meet a prorated billable requirement.

ETA: but if it’s the case that other firms are offering stubs a bonus in addition to a stipend then yeah I’d be a little miffed

[Anonymous User]

Two ways to take the fact that Baker did this but 48+ hours later no one has reported it:

1) No one gives a shit about Baker and knows to wait for Cravath etc. (humorous answer, some truth);
2) The state of reporting on the legal industry in 2022 sucks (what I think the actual answer is--this happened Friday afternoon and no one gave enough of a care to write it up).

I miss the 2010 ATL era when it felt like Lat was getting 100 anonymous tips per day and news would break and spread around in an hour if it was salacious or relevant enough. The legal industry press just feels so moribund now. It feels like most stories are just pulling from the same rolodex of 100 contacts on file that authors keep cycling through, your recruiter hit piece, the puff piece with the firm chair, your law professor contact.

[12YrsAnAssociate]

Two ways to take the fact that Baker did this but 48+ hours later no one has reported it:

1) No one gives a shit about Baker and knows to wait for Cravath etc. (humorous answer, some truth);
2) The state of reporting on the legal industry in 2022 sucks (what I think the actual answer is--this happened Friday afternoon and no one gave enough of a care to write it up).

I miss the 2010 ATL era when it felt like Lat was getting 100 anonymous tips per day and news would break and spread around in an hour if it was salacious or relevant enough. The legal industry press just feels so moribund now. It feels like most stories are just pulling from the same rolodex of 100 contacts on file that authors keep cycling through, your recruiter hit piece, the puff piece with the firm chair, your law professor contact.

ATL is fucking horrendous now. They have been telling us that we're on the brink of the next economic collapse for the last fucking decade. It's almost like they're in the pocket of firms trying to keep associate compensation low. Bonuses and to a lesser extent clerkships, layoffs, and amusing law anecdotes (e.g., bag of dicks guy) are the ONLY things I go to ATL to read about. Everything else is a waste of time. I couldn't care less what some burnouts that spent a few years in biglaw think about Donald Trump or whatever. If I wanted political news, I'd go to CNN.

[Anonymous User]

Has this news even been verified? Agree it’s very good news.

I’ve been crazy (but countercyclical practice so…)

It's true

https://imgur.com/a/lsEuCxQ

Do stub years get nothing?

For the 3 months they worked? No

stubs at my firm get a pro-rated bonus...

Same at my V20. Stiffing stubs seems like a bad recruitment method.

My V20 provided a $10k+ stipend intended for bar expenses but I think it’s also meant to serve as a substitute to a stub bonus. I feel this is more preferable than having to meet a prorated billable requirement.

ETA: but if it’s the case that other firms are offering stubs a bonus in addition to a stipend then yeah I’d be a little miffed

Unfortunately, Baker doesn't provide a stub year bonus (they require you to have been at the firm at least 1/2 the year so as of end of June) and doesn't provide a bar stipend (they give a loan that must be repaid) (tbf they do reimburse for bar expenses). I feel like it's not something that was really brought up until I had gotten and accepted the offer so there wasn't much I could do but it's definitely something that I would have considered if I had known.

[Anonymous User]

Two ways to take the fact that Baker did this but 48+ hours later no one has reported it:

1) No one gives a shit about Baker and knows to wait for Cravath etc. (humorous answer, some truth);
2) The state of reporting on the legal industry in 2022 sucks (what I think the actual answer is--this happened Friday afternoon and no one gave enough of a care to write it up).

I miss the 2010 ATL era when it felt like Lat was getting 100 anonymous tips per day and news would break and spread around in an hour if it was salacious or relevant enough. The legal industry press just feels so moribund now. It feels like most stories are just pulling from the same rolodex of 100 contacts on file that authors keep cycling through, your recruiter hit piece, the puff piece with the firm chair, your law professor contact.

ATL is fucking horrendous now. They have been telling us that we're on the brink of the next economic collapse for the last fucking decade. It's almost like they're in the pocket of firms trying to keep associate compensation low. Bonuses and to a lesser extent clerkships, layoffs, and amusing law anecdotes (e.g., bag of dicks guy) are the ONLY things I go to ATL to read about. Everything else is a waste of time. I couldn't care less what some burnouts that spent a few years in biglaw think about Donald Trump or whatever. If I wanted political news, I'd go to CNN.

Lat-era ATL was incredibly valuable legal reporting, and I think his substack Original Jurisdiction is pretty solid too. Post-Lat ATL is whiny left-wing political "analysis" on tangentially legal topics from mediocre writers.

[TigerIsBack]

Baker news is live on ATL now. Looks like there was a bump for 1st and 2nd years. Seems odd given that they're probably the lowest risk of leaving and even if they left, they weren't super profitable yet anyway (if at all) and probably not difficult to replace.

[Anonymous User]

Baker news is live on ATL now. Looks like there was a bump for 1st and 2nd years. Seems odd given that they're probably the lowest risk of leaving and even if they left, they weren't super profitable yet anyway (if at all) and probably not difficult to replace.

Doesn't appear to be a bump for anyone - exact same scale as base last year - see 2021 on: https://www.biglawinvestor.com/biglaw-salary-scale/

[Anonymous User]

Baker news is live on ATL now. Looks like there was a bump for 1st and 2nd years. Seems odd given that they're probably the lowest risk of leaving and even if they left, they weren't super profitable yet anyway (if at all) and probably not difficult to replace.

Doesn't appear to be a bump for anyone - exact same scale as base last year - see 2021 on: https://www.biglawinvestor.com/biglaw-salary-scale/

And this is just another example of questionable reporting from ATL. They wait three days to report last week’s news and then get it wrong.

[Anonymous User]

ATL is a shell of its former self and has been for a few years now, ever since Lat stepped back.

In other news: We’re now at game time, friends. Meaning this is the first week where there’s a high chance of an announcement from one of the market makers. Cravath tends to announce either first couple days of week before Thanksgiving or first couple days after.

[Anonymizer]

Hopefully CSM, DPW, or MB announce soon and are at least in line with last year’s scale + special bonus baked in.

[Anonymous User]

STB will match and not be a first mover this year.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone else in the “giving notice day bonus hits” camp this year?

[Anonymous User]

STB will match and not be a first mover this year.

(Alden Millard)

[Anonymous User]

Well it's not happening today, folks. Pack it in. Tomorrow's another day.

[Anonymous User]

Well it's not happening today, folks. Pack it in. Tomorrow's another day.

Historically, I think if not today, then next Monday. Don't quote me on that.

[Anonymous User]

Well it's not happening today, folks. Pack it in. Tomorrow's another day.

Historically, I think if not today, then next Monday. Don't quote me on that.

That sounds right and is what I'll go with. If I cared more I'd go back over the ATL tracker of announcement dates and see what date of the week they correspond with but don't have time. I'm guessing we get the announcement 11/28 before end of day although open to being surprised.

[TigerIsBack]

Well it's not happening today, folks. Pack it in. Tomorrow's another day.

Historically, I think if not today, then next Monday. Don't quote me on that.

That sounds right and is what I'll go with. If I cared more I'd go back over the ATL tracker of announcement dates and see what date of the week they correspond with but don't have time. I'm guessing we get the announcement 11/28 before end of day although open to being surprised.

I feel like it's been weird in recent years though. I feel like last year Cravath announced on the Monday before/after Thanksgiving, with a flat bonus scale the same as the prior year, and then no other market-setting firm said anything for awhile, a handful of firms fell in line, TLS was outraged, and then like 3 weeks later DPW came over the top with the special bonus kickers.

Also don't quote me on that because I didn't fact check, but that's my recollection, but then the crazy salary wars happened right after in Jan/Feb so memory could be skewed by those too.

[Anonymous User]

STB will match and not be a first mover this year.

Where is this? Did I miss an email?

[Anonymous User]

Well it's not happening today, folks. Pack it in. Tomorrow's another day.

Historically, I think if not today, then next Monday. Don't quote me on that.

That sounds right and is what I'll go with. If I cared more I'd go back over the ATL tracker of announcement dates and see what date of the week they correspond with but don't have time. I'm guessing we get the announcement 11/28 before end of day although open to being surprised.

I feel like it's been weird in recent years though. I feel like last year Cravath announced on the Monday before/after Thanksgiving, with a flat bonus scale the same as the prior year, and then no other market-setting firm said anything for awhile, a handful of firms fell in line, TLS was outraged, and then like 3 weeks later DPW came over the top with the special bonus kickers.

Also don't quote me on that because I didn't fact check, but that's my recollection, but then the crazy salary wars happened right after in Jan/Feb so memory could be skewed by those too.

That sounds about right. The big deal last year was that the market froze as some debate (probably) happened within DPW, which revealed how DPW is now regarded as one of the necessary market setters.

It could happen again this year. Timing is everything. You need Cravath to kick things off. But then you need the combination of STB, Milbank, and DPW (especially) to weigh in before the market is fully “set.” The longer the delay between the former and the latter, the more likely something is brewing.