Hey everyone,
I'm trying to get a better sense of total associate compensation, which bonuses obviously play a part. Assuming a starting salary of either $120,000 or $160,000 (depending on region and what not), what size bonus can an associate expect? I realize that bonuses are designed to allow for flexibility and as such can vary significantly from year-to-year. I've heard talk of annual bonuses ranging anywhere from 10% of salary ($12k - $16k) all the way up to 100% of an associate's salary. Are both of these figures possible? Are either of them unreasonable? Any thoughts or actual experience would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Big Law Associate Bonuses Forum
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09042014
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thesealocust
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Re: Big Law Associate Bonuses
Bonuses in standard markets are uniform every year and were about $10,000 for first years this year (so you'd get that full bonus after being at the firm for like 15 months, stub year bonus is either 0 or prorated). They've been lower and they've been as high as $30,000++ recently, BUT you can rely on them being uniform across firms and markets because ???? and collusion and lawyers wrote the anti-trust laws?
Bonuses outside of major markets (i.e. your $120,000 hypothetical starting salary place) are probably $0.
There are like, less than 5 firms that pay (a little or a lot) more in bonuses each year: Wachtell, Kirkland, Quinn, and Boies. Susman too, but they're barely "big" by firm standards.
Bonuses outside of major markets (i.e. your $120,000 hypothetical starting salary place) are probably $0.
There are like, less than 5 firms that pay (a little or a lot) more in bonuses each year: Wachtell, Kirkland, Quinn, and Boies. Susman too, but they're barely "big" by firm standards.
