Baker Hostetler Chicago Comp Forum
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Baker Hostetler Chicago Comp
Anyone know what comp, including bonus looks like for a senior associate at Baker Hostetler? And if it has decent WLB
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Re: Baker Hostetler Chicago Comp
Former BH associate (not in Chicago office); spent 4 years at the firm before lateraling.
WL balance depends somewhat on your practice group. I was in litigation, and the workflow varied depending on caseload at any given point in time. The transactional group was more "steady" and consistent. The firm has a fairly achievable 1950 billable hours (potentially unlimited amount can be pro bono), but I know litigators in my office who struggled to hit that mark when their cases suddenly settled (e.g., they were on target and then work landscape changed suddenly and they were at risk). Staying relatively busy as an associate is important to the firm (including for advancement purposes and bonus), but they definitely value WL balance as a whole. No expectation that you kill yourself on hours, and associates who are extremely busy and bill a ton of hours are VERY MUCH the exception to the norm. Most people I worked with (including the partners) were comfortably busy or else had bandwidth to take on more work if it became available.
Regarding comp, it was always my experience that BH paid less than market on just about every level. I was working in a "non-major market" office, and our 1st year salaries were already lower than other offices. There was a LOT of compression going up the scale, and associates at my level in other offices were making higher base comp then me (which didn't make very much sense to me). The firm also bills its associates out differently in different offices, which probably makes up (somewhat?) for the base comp difference. Anecdotally, laterals came in at a better base comp than "home grown" associates at the same level--something that never struck me as very fair. I also understand (anecdotally) that there was a cap on associate base comp at the more senior level because newly minted partners were making $XXX as the objective portion of their compensation, and therefore senior associates could not make more than that. All that being said, I left in 2017 before some of the more major scale increases across the industry, so there may have been some upward impact to associate comp as a result (unlikely to a significant degree, but based on what I had seen when I was there, entirely likely).
Bonus calculation for associates was uniformly applied using a calculation metric, all supposing that you hit 1950 billable hours. If you hit your hours, you automatically qualify for 5% of your base as an "objective" bonus. You are also eligible for up to 12.5% additionally as a "discretionary" bonus--and you didn't find out what percent you got until you received your bonus letter at the end of December. It's unclear precisely what went into how much of that discretionary percent you received---I think it was mostly billable hours (maybe realization rate too), and possibly also any business your brought in or recruitment efforts on behalf of the firm. I killed it one year on hours, and I actually received an "above the top" discretionary bonus which put be at 20% (including both the objective and subjective). In the firm's eyes at the time, that was extremely generous of them, but given my lower than market base to start and the market rates being paid by large firms, the amount I received in context was still underwhelming.
At the end of the day, I left the firm for a more substantive opportunities, in a more "major" market with a firm that paid better comp. You can definitely make a comfortable career at Baker, and partnership is a realistic possibility if you have strong hours year-after-year and your Practice Group is performing well at the firm.
WL balance depends somewhat on your practice group. I was in litigation, and the workflow varied depending on caseload at any given point in time. The transactional group was more "steady" and consistent. The firm has a fairly achievable 1950 billable hours (potentially unlimited amount can be pro bono), but I know litigators in my office who struggled to hit that mark when their cases suddenly settled (e.g., they were on target and then work landscape changed suddenly and they were at risk). Staying relatively busy as an associate is important to the firm (including for advancement purposes and bonus), but they definitely value WL balance as a whole. No expectation that you kill yourself on hours, and associates who are extremely busy and bill a ton of hours are VERY MUCH the exception to the norm. Most people I worked with (including the partners) were comfortably busy or else had bandwidth to take on more work if it became available.
Regarding comp, it was always my experience that BH paid less than market on just about every level. I was working in a "non-major market" office, and our 1st year salaries were already lower than other offices. There was a LOT of compression going up the scale, and associates at my level in other offices were making higher base comp then me (which didn't make very much sense to me). The firm also bills its associates out differently in different offices, which probably makes up (somewhat?) for the base comp difference. Anecdotally, laterals came in at a better base comp than "home grown" associates at the same level--something that never struck me as very fair. I also understand (anecdotally) that there was a cap on associate base comp at the more senior level because newly minted partners were making $XXX as the objective portion of their compensation, and therefore senior associates could not make more than that. All that being said, I left in 2017 before some of the more major scale increases across the industry, so there may have been some upward impact to associate comp as a result (unlikely to a significant degree, but based on what I had seen when I was there, entirely likely).
Bonus calculation for associates was uniformly applied using a calculation metric, all supposing that you hit 1950 billable hours. If you hit your hours, you automatically qualify for 5% of your base as an "objective" bonus. You are also eligible for up to 12.5% additionally as a "discretionary" bonus--and you didn't find out what percent you got until you received your bonus letter at the end of December. It's unclear precisely what went into how much of that discretionary percent you received---I think it was mostly billable hours (maybe realization rate too), and possibly also any business your brought in or recruitment efforts on behalf of the firm. I killed it one year on hours, and I actually received an "above the top" discretionary bonus which put be at 20% (including both the objective and subjective). In the firm's eyes at the time, that was extremely generous of them, but given my lower than market base to start and the market rates being paid by large firms, the amount I received in context was still underwhelming.
At the end of the day, I left the firm for a more substantive opportunities, in a more "major" market with a firm that paid better comp. You can definitely make a comfortable career at Baker, and partnership is a realistic possibility if you have strong hours year-after-year and your Practice Group is performing well at the firm.
