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Among V100 firms, is it rare for a firm to not offer any 401(k) matching?

It is rare for a firm to offer matching.

I got 100 dollars of matching. LOL biglaw

Is it pretty much the biglaw norm that your salary and bonuses are the extent of your compensation (no 401 matching, you get your own insurance, cover your own toll/parking fees, etc)?

ScottRiqui wrote:Is it pretty much the biglaw norm that your salary and bonuses are the extent of your compensation (no 401 matching, you get your own insurance, cover your own toll/parking fees, etc)?

You pay into the firm plan for insurance. (Mine is $537 a month for the most expensive plan, I've had serious health issues and need to keep it at the best plan.)
You can get meals billed to a client and a car home after certain hours and with certain limits.
I don't know about parking or tolls if you drive but I would be surprised if they were covered.
Eta: you should also have disability insurance and life insurance up to your salary. The disability insurance saved me, my earnings were not taxable and were based on a combination of salary and bonus. I had no worries when I was unable to work. But being disabled because you are too sick to work is not a great situation.

The firm also did my will, which including putting money in trust for my mom and sister, for free. I bought a large life insurance policy when I started. I'm glad I did because I would never qualify now.

I also get private banking and discounts on mortgage rates if I ever buy anything.

ScottRiqui wrote:Is it pretty much the biglaw norm that your salary and bonuses are the extent of your compensation (no 401 matching, you get your own insurance, cover your own toll/parking fees, etc)?

No 401k matching is the norm. Health insurance and parking vary substantially among firms, from my understanding. Health insurance for associates at my firm is over 50% subsidized (I pay about $160/month for the most expensive individual plan), but parking at the garage in our building is nearly $250/month. Some firms (non-NYC, of course) provide much cheaper or free parking. Another huge difference is bar stipends: some firms give incoming associates a $5k or $10k stipend for their bar summer, in addition to paying for a course, while other firms only offer a salary advance.

ScottRiqui wrote:Is it pretty much the biglaw norm that your salary and bonuses are the extent of your compensation (no 401 matching, you get your own insurance, cover your own toll/parking fees, etc)?

I think most firms help out with insurance premiums. 401(k) matching is practically unheard of (haven't polled everyone I know but I have never heard of it in biglaw -- not counting the anecdote about $100 matching, which lol). You can usually pay for commuting costs with pretax dollars, which, okay, it saves you $30 a month on a MetroCard, I guess that's nice but not going to change your life. There are other fringe things like gym discounts, cell phone discounts, etc., but I assume the firm isn't actually paying anything for that, they just negotiated a group rate.

Basically they focus on the big 160 number in lieu of the benefits that people don't pay attention to.

ScottRiqui wrote:Is it pretty much the biglaw norm that your salary and bonuses are the extent of your compensation (no 401 matching, you get your own insurance, cover your own toll/parking fees, etc)?

Like others have said, usually no 401k matching. But my firm offers health insurance for pretty cheap. ~$180/month for a single person with the PPO. Not bad. No parking or toll benefits to my knowledge.

My previous firm did 401(k) matching, but it was on a stepped scale that increased with tenure at the firm. Same with the vesting of that matching.

WSGR seems to match an employee's 401(k) saving up to 3% of his or her salary. Some smaller law firms also have such benefit.