Wachtell Bonus Forum

[lovelaw27]

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Bonuses started at 45% of salary for more junior associates up to 70% of base salary for more senior associates.

[bk1]

In other news some dude just won the lottery, something which has about the same chance of happening for someone on TLS a working at Wachtell.

[bk1]

I'm not so sure. IIRC, someone one here had a CB at WLRK this past fall, and we have people on here who are almost certainly qualified to work there.

I know it's not technically true, I was being hyperbolic. My point was that it is exceedingly rare and that one's chances are really really slim, though obviously not as rare as winning the lotto.

[vanwinkle]

I personally considered it an honor and a privilege to be in their presence for 20 minutes and receive a rejection letter on their beautiful letterhead.

[Anonymous User]

thats pretty weak

hopefully they get back up to 100% base salary bonuses in 2 years when I join the firm

[Anonymous User]

But...

You have to work at Wachtell.

Not even close to being worth it.

[swc65]

^^ What? It's only billing 3K hours. That ain't hard.

[Anonymous User]

^^ What? It's only billing 3K hours. That ain't hard.

I know you're being sarcastic, but even if 3k hours was reasonably doable, it's still doing the type of work that Wachtell does in a type of place like Wachtell...

[Stanford4Me]

But...

You have to work at Wachtell.

Not even close to being worth it.

+1 for me.

[swc65]

^^ What? It's only billing 3K hours. That ain't hard.

I know you're being sarcastic, but even if 3k hours was reasonably doable, it's still doing the type of work that Wachtell does in a type of place like Wachtell...

I don't really know what they do or what type of place it is. What's so wrong with the work and environment?

[Cavalier]

In other news some dude just won the lottery, something which has about the same chance of happening for someone on TLS a working at Wachtell.

Not really. I know of multiple TLSers who have been/will be competitive for SCOTUS clerkships, so I imagine quite a few people here could get Wachtell if they wanted.

[bk1]

In other news some dude just won the lottery, something which has about the same chance of happening for someone on TLS a working at Wachtell.

Not really. I know of multiple TLSers who have been/will be competitive for SCOTUS clerkships, so I imagine quite a few people here could get Wachtell if they wanted.

See my above response to GTL stating I was being hyperbolic.

[Cavalier]

In other news some dude just won the lottery, something which has about the same chance of happening for someone on TLS a working at Wachtell.

Not really. I know of multiple TLSers who have been/will be competitive for SCOTUS clerkships, so I imagine quite a few people here could get Wachtell if they wanted.

See my above response to GTL stating I was being hyperbolic.

You expect me to read the entire thread before posting? Ridiculous!

[beachbum]

This may sound incredibly ignorant, but what the hell did Watchtell do to deserve the insane prestige/respect they get (particularly on a forum where a lot of people are gunning for V5/V10)? And why are they paying so much more than other firms? And how can they afford to be so incredibly selective? Basically, wtf Watchtell?

[bk1]

You expect me to read the entire thread before posting? Ridiculous!

My feelings exactly.

[legends159]

This may sound incredibly ignorant, but what the hell did Watchtell do to deserve the insane prestige/respect they get (particularly on a forum where a lot of people are gunning for V5/V10)? And why are they paying so much more than other firms? And how can they afford to be so incredibly selective? Basically, wtf Watchtell?

Like skadden they did the hostile takeover stuff when other white shoes firms wouldn't b/c it wasn't considered respectable work. They defended corporate boards while skadden advised acquirers. Lipton also invented the poison pill which is a big deal in takeovers, making it impossible to do a hostile takeover w/o a proxy fight.

Unlike skadden they didn't balloon in size but retain relatively low number of attorneys so they could remain more selective. They represent mostly public companies and get huge fees from their legal work. Since they have a small size they can afford to pay much higher bonuses than other firms. But they also work much harder and partners typically don't bill at a much higher rate than associates do, so from the top down people at WLRK are workhorses.

the vault rankings are based on a survey of biglaw associates and partners and all they ask for is a ranking of firms based on perceived prestige. Since they pay the most, it's easy to see them as the most prestigious. In the 80s and early 90s Cravath paid the most, so they were ranked #1.

[beachbum]

This may sound incredibly ignorant, but what the hell did Watchtell do to deserve the insane prestige/respect they get (particularly on a forum where a lot of people are gunning for V5/V10)? And why are they paying so much more than other firms? And how can they afford to be so incredibly selective? Basically, wtf Watchtell?

Like skadden they did the hostile takeover stuff when other white shoes firms wouldn't b/c it wasn't considered respectable work. They defended corporate boards while skadden advised acquirers. Lipton also invented the poison pill which is a big deal in takeovers, making it impossible to do a hostile takeover w/o a proxy fight.

Unlike skadden they didn't balloon in size but retain relatively low number of attorneys so they could remain more selective. They represent mostly public companies and get huge fees from their legal work. Since they have a small size they can afford to pay much higher bonuses than other firms. But they also work much harder and partners typically don't bill at a much higher rate than associates do, so from the top down people at WLRK are workhorses.

the vault rankings are based on a survey of biglaw associates and partners and all they ask for is a ranking of firms based on perceived prestige. Since they pay the most, it's easy to see them as the most prestigious. In the 80s and early 90s Cravath paid the most, so they were ranked #1.

Great explanation, thanks.

[WVUCelticFan]

Slightly off-topic, but what other firms (I'm assuming there are at least a a couple) do the same type of work as WLRK?

[legends159]

pretty much every large firm in NYC

Wachtell doesn't do specialized niche work. They just do certain work, primarily M&A, M&A litigation, corp governance work especially well.

[phoenixsoars]

.

[Anonymous User]

^^ What? It's only billing 3K hours. That ain't hard.

I know you're being sarcastic, but even if 3k hours was reasonably doable, it's still doing the type of work that Wachtell does in a type of place like Wachtell...

Actually, from the people I've spoken with who have worked at Wachtell, around 3K billables sounds about right. So I'm not sure whether the comment was sarcasm, but 2700+ hours is a regular occurrence at WLRK. You don't get huge bonuses just because your firm is uber-prestigious.

Oh, no, I understand that they want 3k. I was referring to his "that ain't hard" comment.

[RVP11]

^^ What? It's only billing 3K hours. That ain't hard.

I know you're being sarcastic, but even if 3k hours was reasonably doable, it's still doing the type of work that Wachtell does in a type of place like Wachtell...

Actually, from the people I've spoken with who have worked at Wachtell, around 3K billables sounds about right. So I'm not sure whether the comment was sarcasm, but 2700+ hours is a regular occurrence at WLRK. You don't get huge bonuses just because your firm is uber-prestigious.

They were giving standard 100% bonuses before ITE...so, yeah, sometimes you do get a huge bonus just because your firm is uber-prestigious.

[vanwinkle]

Actually, from the people I've spoken with who have worked at Wachtell, around 3K billables sounds about right. So I'm not sure whether the comment was sarcasm, but 2700+ hours is a regular occurrence at WLRK. You don't get huge bonuses just because your firm is uber-prestigious.

They were giving standard 100% bonuses before ITE...so, yeah, sometimes you do get a huge bonus just because your firm is uber-prestigious.

I believe the above poster's point was that you get the bonus because you put in 2700+ hours at your uber-prestigious firm. If you're not keeping up with everyone else in billables logged, you won't be getting a huge bonus, you'll be getting the door.