More Bonus News – And it’s a Little Different

Wed, Dec 2, 2009

Home, Law Firms, Money

Two more firms have announced their bonus schedules and they’re a bit different from the Cravath scale.

Sullivan & Cromwell is paying bonuses ranging from $7500 to $35,000 depending on class year. The only change is at the high end where senior associates will receive $5000 more than at firms on the Cravath scale.

Patton Boggs is doing things differently. They are paying bonuses based on both class year and the number of billable hours by which an associate exceeded their target goal. The scale ranges from $5000 to $45000. You’ll note that it’s lower on the low end and higher on the high end, but more importantly it cuts out completely anyone that missed their target goal for billable hours. Given the state of the legal economy I have to wonder how many associates won’t be getting a bonus at all, and of those that do, how few are hitting that top mark.

Patton Boggs also told its associates that those that missed their billable hour target by a large enough amount would receive a salary cut. Missed by 300 hours? That’s a 10% pay cut. Missed by 500 hours? That’s a 20% pay cut. And since salaries are remaining frozen, that means a third year associate that missed by 500 hours will receive $122,000 next year while new first years get $160,000.

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4 Trackbacks For This Post

  1. [...] firms have announced bonus schedules that are a little different… but not [...]

  2. [...] Associate Bonus, Sullivan & Cromwell, Patton Boggs, Cravath Bonus … [...]

  3. [...] for bonuses seemed pretty set in stone with every firm falling in lockstep with Cravath.  But earlier this week Sullivan & Cromwell dared to be different.  Of course, it’s only different if [...]

  4. [...] Irell & Manella gave its associates the good news last week.  The firm is paying double the Sullivan & Cromwell scale, which is the cravath scale with a little boost at the top.  There are no performance reviews or [...]

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