JD Journal » year end bonus

Irell & Manella LLP Announce Bonuses

jim — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:19:38 +0000

According to reports on Wednesday, the law firm of Irell & Manella LLP has doubled the bonus value set forth by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP earlier in December. Irell & Manella LLP is said to have dished out close to $75,000 to its associates.

The 2010 class at Irell will be issued a $15,000 bonus; the 2009 class will be issued a $20,000 bonus; the 2008 class will be issued a $30,000 bonus; the 2007 class will be issued a $40,000 bonus; the 2006 class will be issued a $50,000 bonus; the 2005 class will be issued a $60,000 bonus and the 2004 class will be issued a $75,000 bonus.

The memo sent out to associates at Irell emphasized that the bonuses were double the ones handed out by Cravath.

The Irell firm is not the first law firm to surpass the bonus threshold set by Cravath in December. In the final month of 2011, Fried Frank Shriver & Jacobson LLP said they would top the Cravath scale as they handed out bonuses that had varying amounts reaching a cutoff of $52,500.

Also in December, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP announced that the end of year bonuses it would hand out would also exceed the Cravath pay scale. Their bonuses surpassed the Cravath ones for lawyers who dedicated billable hours over 2,100 during 2011. Bonuses from Quinn Emanuel ranged from $6,375 to $62,000 and they were based on length of time at the firm and how many hours the lawyers worked during the year.

There were plenty of law firms to top the scale set by Cravath in 2011 and those firms are Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Clifford Chance LLP. It was reported that Clifford Chance LLP handed out bonuses worth $42,500 for the 2003 class and older.

The law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP handed out bonuses for 2011 that were higher than those issued by Cravath.

Some of the associates at Kirkland who were able to bill hours ranging from 2,250 and 2,350 hours for 2011 reported that they had been issued bonuses almost twice the amount of the Cravath pay scale. There were some associates who worked over 2,700 billable hours who claim they received close to $40,000 for a bonus. This amount would have been four times the amount handed out by Cravath.

The summer bonuses issued by Irell also went above those issued by Cravath in the spring. Irell said back in the month of July that it would issue bonuses of $27,500 to its associates, unrelated to the amount of billable hours worked.

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson Announce Bonuses

jim — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:56:25 +0000

The law firm of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP announced that it would issue bonuses to its associates that would go as high as $52,500. The firm’s bonuses would beat the scale announced by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP. Their maximum bonus goes up to $37,500.

The law firm, headquartered in New York, will issue the bonuses on December 29 in various amounts that do not exceed $52,500. These numbers are from a copy of the law firm’s memorandum posted on the legal blog Above the Law.

In 2010, Fried Frank released a memo announcing that it would issue bonuses that would not exceed $40,000, and that they would be issued in various amounts. The 2011 memo, similar to the 2010 memo, did not announce which associate group would receive which dollar amount.

Fried Frank announced in February that it would release spring bonuses that topped out at $20,000 in April. An internal memo sent out to associates said that the class of 2009 would receive bonuses of $7,500; the class of 2008 would receive bonuses of $10,000; the class of 2007 would receive $15,000 and the classes of 2006 and earlier would receive bonuses of $20,000.

Fried Frank delivered its spring bonuses on April 29 to its associates working in New York and Washington offices, the firm’s only two offices within the United States.

The law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP handed out bonuses for 2011 that were higher than the scale set by Cravath at the end of November. Kirkland associates who worked between 2,250 and 2,350 billable hours in 20211 said that they received more than twice the Cravath scale. Some associates with more than 2,700 billable hours worked in 2011 claim they received close to $40,000. This is four times the amount they would have received should their firm have followed the Cravath scale.

The year-end bonus announcements from Fried Frank and Kirkland & Ellis LLP came on the heels of the Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP announcement on Tuesday. Schulte Roth announced it would match the Cravath scale, though it will issue the bonuses in two installments; one at the end of December and one in March.

The law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP announced last week that the year-end bonuses going to its associates would exceed the bonus scale set by Cravath. Associates at Quinn Emanuel will receive bonuses ranging from $6,375 to $62,000. Those bonuses will be based on seniority and the number of hours worked in 2011. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Clifford Chance LLP are other law firms that have matched or topped the Cravath bonus scale for 2011.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Announce Bonuses

jim — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:45:40 +0000

On Friday, the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP announced its year-end bonuses. The announcement revealed a scale that will surpass the one set forth by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP for employees with more than 2,100 billable hours earlier this year.

The bonuses handed out by Quinn Emanuel will range from $6,375 to $62,000 for its associates. The bonus for an associated will depend on the associate’s seniority and the number of hours he or she worked in 2011.

The scale released by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP has a range of $7,500 to $37,500. The most senior associates at Cravath are those that were hired in 2004. Those associates are receiving the $37,500 bonuses.

According to Above the Law, first-year associates at Quinn Emanuel will be receiving bonuses ranging from $6,375 to $23,500. The bonus for first-year associates will depend on the amount of hours they worked this year. A $6,375 bonus will go to those who worked less than 2,100 hours this year while a bonus of $23,500 will go to those who worked more than 2,800 billable hours this year. Bonuses ranging from $9,000 to $27,000 will be given to second-year associates. Bonuses of $13,875 to $33,500 will be issued to third-year associates.

The class of 2007 at Quinn Emanuel will be receiving bonuses ranging from $18,750 to $40,000. The class of 2006 will be receiving bonuses ranging from $23,625 to $46,500. The class of 2005 will be receiving bonuses ranging from $28,500 to $46,500. The most senior associates at the law firm will receive bonuses ranging from $32,250 to $62,000.

In 2010, Quinn Emanuel gave its associates 150 percent of the Cravath scale, but the extra 50 percent was not paid out until June. The firm did say that it would be handing out spring bonuses for this year but did not say anything about the bonus scale. The firm did say that it would match any bonuses handed out by other competitive firms. The bonuses handed out by Quinn Emanuel at the end of this year for its senior associates will exceed the bonuses going to senior associates at rival law firms.

Associates from the class of 2003 at the law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Clifford Chance LLP were said to bring home bonuses of $42,500 this year. These numbers prompted the firm of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP to increase its year-end bonuses to $42,500 from $37,500.

The drop in earnings to roughly 95 percent for the firm of Susman Godfrey LLP caused its year-end bonuses to range from $40,000 to $110,000. These numbers are slightly lower than last year’s bonus scale. Quite a few law firms have announced their plans for year-end bonuses over the past month, with many more expected to hit the public over the next week or so as we get closer to 2012.

Cahill Announces Bonuses

jim — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:06:50 +0000

In 2010, the law firm of Cravath Swaine & Moore low-balled the market for bonuses, which was then steamrolled by the firm of Cahill Gordon. The low bonus scale set by Cravath last year was matched by the firm this year for the most part. Cahill is beating the scale set by Cravath again this year, but they are going one step further with their bonuses.

In 2011, Cahill is issuing a special bonus payment to its employees in their next paycheck. This bonus payment is coming before the company even hands out its year-end bonuses, which Cahill agrees Cravath has set at a low mark, simply by handing out bonuses much higher than the Cravath scale.

So now you must be wondering how special these early bonuses are?

The early bonuses are so special that Cahill is handing out $10,000 to every associate in each class year with their December 15 paycheck. Talk about having a Happy Holiday. This bonus in the December 15 paycheck will be in addition to the year-end bonus handed out by Cahill before December is complete. Experts believe that the year-end bonuses from Cahill will be just as good, if not better than, the Cravath bonuses. The associates at Cahill should consider the December 15 bonus as a down payment for the total bonus coming in two weeks.

Cahill did not send out memos to its associates about the bonuses. Instead, the firm called its partners to tell them of the news yesterday, according to Above the Law.

Experts believe that Cahill associates will be receiving year-end bonuses that beat the scale set by Cravath to go on top of the $10,000 they are receiving in their December 15 paychecks. Some of the Cahill associates received bonuses that totaled $35,000 more than the Cravath bonus for relevant class year in 2010. Representing the floor for Cahill associates is the Cravath scale plus the $10,000 the associates are receiving in their paychecks on December 15. There is no definite answer as to the Cahill scale but the bonuses could always get better.

In the bonus market of 2010, the majority of Cahill associates fared better than their colleagues at Cravath because of their spring bonuses. Cahill also pays its associates a mid-year bonus, with the last one being paid in June, ranging from $5,000-$25,000. As you can imagine, associates at Cahill are unbelievably happy right now. Here is the money Cahill associates are expected to pull down in 2011:

Associates will be receiving $10,000 now, a Cravath-like bonus at the end of the year. They also received $20,000 in June if they were hired in 2006. The year-end bonus should be around $25,000, which means an associated hired in 2006 will have pulled down $55,000 this year, which seems like a pretty good year.

Two More Law Firms Jump on Cravath Bonus Bandwagon

jim — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:38:48 +0000

Two more law firms have announced that they will be handing out $42,500 year-end bonuses to their eighth-year associates and above before 2011 comes to an end. According to Law360, the two new firms are Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. The two firms are matching the scale set forth by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP.

Davis Polk and Paul Weiss will be matching the new scale that was established last week by the law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. All of these firms announced last week that they would be handing out bonuses of $42,500 to their associates who were hired in 2003 or earlier.

The remainder of the pay scale falls in line with the scale set by Cravath, which announced its year-end bonuses last month. The firms will issue bonuses of $7,500 for first-year associates to $37,500 for seventh-year lawyers. Associates hired in 2004 represent the most-senior level associates at the firm of Cravath.

The law firm of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP announced that it would match the scale set by Cravath but will not match the extended scale. The eight-year associates at Weil will receive bonuses of $37,500. Weil will pay its bonuses on December 23 and made the following statement in a memo sent to employees on December 8:

“On behalf of all Weil partners, we thank you for your hard work and dedication over the past year.”
The Cravath scale will be matched by the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP for just the first-year and second-year associates. The bonuses handed out to the firm’s most-senior level associates will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Ever since the bonus scale was released by Cravath last month, the list of law firms matching the scale has increased steadily.

Last week, the law firm of Kaye Scholer LLP announced its bonuses, which will be given to those associates who work at least 1,950 hours per year. Associates who work at least 2,400 hours per year will be receiving a bonus of $57,500.

Shearman & Sterling LLP announced that bonuses will be handed out by the firm that will match the Cravath scale. This firm’s announcement occurred only one day after Proskauer Rose LLP announced its bonus plans for 2011.
The 2011 bonus scale announced by Cravath closely matches the bonuses issued by the firm to its employees in 2010. The only exception was that seventh-year associates in 2010 were given bonuses of $35,000. Cravath is the leader in handing out bonuses, as the firm issued spring bonuses in 2011, giving $20,000 to associates hired from 2004 to 2006, $15,000 to associates hired in 2007, and $2,500-$10,000 to associates hired later.

More Bonuses

joshua — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:11:24 +0000

-Insert cookie cutter story here-

Debevoise & Plimpton announced bonuses today. Second verse, same as the first… I’m rapidly running out of new and creative ways to say this, so here it is – it’s the same bonus schedule first issued by Cravath, then followed by Cleary Gottlieb, Skadden, Wilkie Farr, Simpson Thatcher, and Davis Polk. $7500 for first year associates, seniors get $30k, and everyone else is on a sliding scale somewhere in between.

Nothing to see here, move along…

Skadden Bonuses Match Cravath and Cleary

joshua — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:02:58 +0000

If you’re an associate at Skadden Arps, the good news is not only do you still have a job, you’re getting a bonus for surviving the year. The not so good news is that it’s the same as associates from Cravath and Cleary. There had been some hope that Skadden would buck the trend, much as they did last year when it paid bonuses around double that of most firms, but such is not the case. Like Cravath and Cleary, Skadden’s bonuses run from $7,500 up to $30,000.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, LLP is a global firm headquartered in New York City with offices in twenty-four cities around the world. Core areas of practice include mergers and acquisitions, litigation, bankruptcy, tax, and securities law.