‘Lowball’ Bonuses at Some BigLaw Firms?

Associates

Posted Dec 18, 2007, 06:49 pm CST

By Martha Neil

'Tis the season for associates at major law firms to receive hefty year-end bonuses. But the BigLaw largesse is more generous at some law firms than others, and a number of associates receiving lesser amounts are not jumping for joy.

At least two firms, DLA Piper and McDermott, Will & Emery, have been straightforward about not matching the lockstep bonuses being paid this year by market leader Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which start at a total of $35,000 (prorated) for the class of 2007 and top out at a total of $110,000 for the classes of 2000 and 2001, reports Above the Law, based on information from associates there. McDermott reportedly will pay about $5,000 to senior associates who bill at least 2,000 hours annually, and DLA Piper, we are told, has unofficially promised to pay bonuses at the same level as last year.

But "numerous associates" at other firms, writes blogger David Lat, have complained that their firms "are using vague bonus policies to lowball them on bonuses. While we understand why these associates are upset, we can't say we're surprised. The whole point of a bonus policy that contains an element of discretion is the ability to pay some associates less than others—for whatever reason, justified or not."

As he and others have pointed out—and an earlier ABAJournal.com post discusses--paying associates top lockstep bonuses, while a badge of law firm prestige, may not do much for the bottom line.

"Lawyers are smart, but this herd mentality seems absolutely irrational, economically speaking—and not because the compensation is too high. The top law firms have been stuck in copycat mode for years," writes the New York Times in a Dealbook article earlier this month. "As soon as one of them raises salaries for associates, the others fall in line almost immediately."

Says Lat: "To be perfectly (and brutally) honest, does it make sense for firms with profits per partner that are a fraction of Cravath's to pay bonuses at Cravath levels? Of course associates want bigger bonuses. But they also want jobs."

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Posted by Anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 6 days, 1 hour, 40 minutes ago

This article cites a misleading, unverified post from an anonymous source purporting to be a lawyer in McDermott Will & Emery’s Boston office.

To set the record straight, the $5000 bonus for a 2001 class year attorney is merely an illustrative amount. There’s no guarantee that 2001 grads will necessarily be given that much. Please stop needlessly contributing to a sense of entitlement and self-worth in associates.
Posted by Anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 13 hours, 45 minutes ago

A bonus is just that - a bonus; an extra; something paid in addition to what one was owed. My firm and I agreed to my salary as compensation for my work and I do not count on bonuses in making my financial plans. I’m sure there are firms (on the same “prestige level” with my firm) that gave an associate in my position more, but the notion of whining about it is crass and sounds spoiled. I just said, “thank you.“
Posted by Howard Gilbert - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes ago

If you got the guts open your own practice. Sign the lease,pledge your soul and fortune and then pay yourself a bonus ,if there is money left.
Posted by Anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 12 hours, 4 minutes ago

Bonus Shmonus.

My idea of a bonus is having a place to work. Some of us worked prior to (and during) law school and realize that money doesn’t grow on trees. Others were put through law school by Mommy & Daddy and this is their first job.

You can easily tell who is who: the ones who feel gratitude for getting a paycheck are the former. The ones who feel “entitled” to a bonus are the latter.
Posted by WooWooWoo - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 12 hours, 1 minute ago

$35,000 “bonus” for a kid-lawyer practicing for less than 1 year? Talk about idiocy! He or she likely cannot find or use the copier.
Posted by LawSlave - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 11 hours, 48 minutes ago

My firm requires that I bill 1900 hours to make my salary, and I billed over 2100. My firm lowballed me a $4000 bonus. I made hardly anything extra per hour at 2 am, while most workers get time and a half for overtime.. And to keep my job my firm wants me to be ever-available to client demands and to manage the work—- I can’t just bill a certain amount of hours and go home. So, shame on the firms that lowballed to associates who made tremendous lifestyle sacrafices for profits per partner to go ever upward.
Posted by Jim Smith - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 11 hours, 46 minutes ago

These articles are stupid and misleading. I would guess that less than one percent of new lawyers would get a bonus anywhere near $35,000. Stop misleading the public into believing ALL new lawyers are overpaid. Can’t the ABA find more pressing issues to write about?
Posted by WooWooWoo - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes ago

LawSlave: Then find another line of work. And while you are at it, stop whining, and learn how to spell.
Posted by JP - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 11 hours, 13 minutes ago

LawSlave - so find yourself a per hour job at Mickey D’s that will pay you 6.50 + for overtime. You knew, or should have known, what you were getting yourself into when you started law school…
Posted by anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 11 hours, 5 minutes ago

My firm has a minimum number of expected billable hours per year. At the end of the year, anything worked above that minimum is paid at x% per additional hour. If you want to work the minimum, fine. If you work 200 hours more, you get 200*x% as a “bonus”. If you work 400 hours more, you get 400*x% as a “bonus”. Seems the only reasonable, fair way to calculate such things.
Posted by BIGLAW 1ST YEAR - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 10 hours, 14 minutes ago

I worked my butt off in law school while many of my fellow classmates “had fun” and “took weekends off.“ I didn’t go to Harvard or Yale but to a school barely in the top 20, and I had to work my butt off to get in (no 170 LSAT here). Because of my effort, I graduated at the top of my class and got a job with one of the highest ranked firms in the country. I DESERVE my $35,000 bonus.

In response to WooWooWoo, I know darn well where the copier is, she is right outside my office and will copy anything I want her to and do a handful of other tricks. By the way, my firm forced me to buy her a $100 gift for Christmas (this amount DOUBLES every year)!!!! I have worked there less than 3 months and somehow my secretary deserves $100 (tax free I might add)....
Posted by anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 10 hours, 2 minutes ago

BIGLAW 1st Year-

I’m speechless. The horror.
Posted by GovtSlave - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 55 minutes ago

I work for the government, I don’t get a bonus. Boo-hoo. Poor me. My second job doesn’t give bonuses either. I guess the law and waitressing are screwing me.
Posted by Disgusted - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 55 minutes ago

BIGLAW 1st Year - Such idiocy, it can only be meant as a spoof. No one is that arrogantly stupid.
Posted by Anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 51 minutes ago

Wow. BIGLAW 1st year. I truly hope you believe the opposite, and were writing in Jim Rome “letter” style just to prove the point. Please tell us you weren’t serious.
Posted by Mid-Market_BigLaw - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 42 minutes ago

My firm pays us our base salary of $120K + 7.5% of that salary if we bill 2000, plus another 7.5% for every extra 1000 hours we bill. Plus, there’s discretionary bonus, too (up to a max of $5000 I think).
Posted by Tom Vogele - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 38 minutes ago

I’m a 54 yr.old 1st year associate at a small (14 lawyer) firm. I’ve worked all my life and made lots of money. I know how hard it is to make a living or to run a business (I’m a serial entrepeneur). The idea that anyone is entitled to a bonus is jusst plain stupid and childish.

I’m paid a very handsome salary and afforded the opportunity to pursue a career I dreamed about for almost 35 years. I didn’t go to Harvard (but with a 174 LSAT probably could have) but focusing on how much you make tells me you’re an attorney for all the wrong reasons.

If you want to make big bucks, become a BMW mechanic. I understand they get $150k once certified. In the spirit of Christmas, be thankful you have the opportunity to be part of a profession that has the power to make everyone’s life better and their liberties secure.
Posted by solo - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 32 minutes ago

BIGLAW you are an ass. When you come into a firm and they shovel you work to do, you have earned nothing. Build your own clients and then complain about bonuses.
Posted by Theodore G. Fletcher - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 23 minutes ago

Bonus? Some of these bonuses are more than I take home in a year as a solo. The Big Law crybabies are really tiresome.
Posted by NONprofit Lawyer - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 19 minutes ago

I, too, graduated from a top law school, near the top of my class - and am now making barely more than the Cravath bonuses in an entire year! This sense of entitlement to huge salaries and bonuses makes me slightly nauseous. LawSlave - you barely got paid anything extra for working at 2am? You make nearly a hundred dollars an hour! What are you complaining about? This is the lifestyle you chose, just as I chose the lower-paying but more satisfying and karma-friendly route of nonprofit work.
Posted by BIGLAW 1ST YEAR - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 9 hours, 16 minutes ago

Why would I want to become a BMW mechanic and make $150k a year? As a first year, I’m already making $195,000, and perhaps more, that is the low-level bonus.

I do not, in any way, believe that I am ENTITLED to a bonus. I’m not going to give everyone a dissertation in how bonuses work, although it seems many of you could probably use it, but just know that one type of bonus is purely contractual. When I signed my name on the dotted line, I knew that if I billed X hours, I would get $Y bonus. Luckily for me, later the firm decided to add $Z to the bonus, so now I get $Y + $Z = $35,000. Thus, as a contractual right, I deserve my bonus.

In response to Solo, I have earned a lot actually. That is why I am here. The cream typically rises to the top, as opposed to going into solo practice your first year out of law school.

Doesn’t anyone see the lack of entitlement to secretaries getting this much tax-free money? My firm should have told me, not that I was getting paid $160,000 (which is about $80,000 after all of the taxes out there), but that I was getting paid $160,000 minus $100.
Posted by Plaintiff Lawyer - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 57 minutes ago

I just got my year end bonus reading this and being thankful that I actually have a life outside of law. (I also love seeing the defense attorneys complain about their hours, means we’re doing something right!)
Posted by Get over yourselves - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 55 minutes ago

Big Law, I know several top grads from top tier schools that opted out of big firm life. I graduated close to the top of my class and didn’t consider working for a big firm. That you so readily stereotype that grads choosing the independence of solo practice belies a lack of real world understanding.

The solo posting might have started out at a big firm but after a few years realizing he was working for a system responsible for broken marriages and high substance abuse rates may have decided he/she wanted to lead a sane life.

I have a five year old child and there is no way I would miss his growing up to earn a six figure salary. I already feel like I cheated my family by spending as much time as I did studying during law school.
Posted by ALKesq. - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 54 minutes ago

BIGLAW: Maybe you should file a breach of contract suit against your firm, and possibly your secretary who works her a** off and deals with your incredible ignorance and attitude on a daily basis, just because they asked you to give her a measly $100 gift. I’m sure you would have certainly turned down the $160,000 gig knowing you would have to fork out that extra $100. Obviously no one here cares about your woes. Mommy and Daddy really did a number on you!!
Posted by Tom Vogele - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 54 minutes ago

BIGLAW 1ST YEAR has a point. If you signed an agreement specifying “x” if you did “y”, then fine. Nobody should begrudge you a dime of your “bonus.“ However, to me, a true bonus is a discretionary payment, not a term of one’s employment contract. Perhaps people need to be more specific about what they mean by “bonus.“

As to becoming a BMW mechanic, keep in mind that one can do so after high school, not four years of college and three years of law school at a total cost of $250k, or more. You work a normal (i.e. 40-45 hr) workweek and nobody tells nasty jokes about you. While I prefer the law, if all you want is money, BMW mechanic isn’t a bad choice.
Posted by Chitown2L - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 53 minutes ago

Wow BigLaw, you acutally sound serious… After all the money you make you’re worried about a $100 gift to your secretary who does all your running around for you… I see you really care about the giving spirit this season. Glad I’m not on your Christmas list. (That is, if you can even afford to give gifts this year with such a tough salary that is now less an additional $100?)
Posted by Anon - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 35 minutes ago

Calling the year-end payment a “bonus” is really a misnomer. It is an established and expected part of total compensation. In my case, my bonus will be about 25% of my total compensation, even if I do not get the “Special Bonus” that Cravath invented this year. That would bump the ratio up to over 30%. All “top” firms pay the same amount and pay it consistently. If your employer takes away 25% of your compensation one year, and your reaction is “Bonus Shmonus” like #4, I just don’t know what to say. Everyone should want to be compensated as well as possible for their work, and if your peers are making thousands to tens of thousands more for the same hours, time to jump ship.
Posted by solo - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 30 minutes ago

Biglaw I appreciate the fact that you keep posting, you prove that you are a fool. My point is that a law school resume does not mean you could actually retain your own clients, hence you are only worth what the firm feeds you. You are a bottom feeder. And a jackass if you begrudge a hundred dollars to a secretary. Anyone with self respect would go beyond that when you make your money. Oh and by the way, methinks that you were studying every weekend because you have no friends, not a great work ethic.
Posted by Appalled - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 8 hours, 27 minutes ago

BigLaw - please tell me you do not seriously believe that you deserve $35,000 bonus but your secretary doesn’t even deserve $100 at Christmas?? How incredibly miserly and selfish you are. Like you are even going to miss $100? No wonder the public hates lawyers. I feel sorry for your secretary and anyone who has the misfortune to be related to or associated with you. God help you.
Posted by Ha HA HA - Ho ho ho - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 7 hours, 55 minutes ago

BigLaw—what a Study For Christmas Carol you and your miserable life are. Watch out for those Ghosts when you lay your pathetic head down on your pillow tonight to take a break from your likely non-stop billing.

As for your “contractual” rights, I suggest you check that scrap of paper you claimed to have signed on the ‘dotted line”. Having been a partner at a big law firm (one of the ones mentioned in the article), I can assure you that any “bonus” plan discussed with the associates was so completely discretionary that any claim you try to make will be laughed out of court, long after you’ve been shown the door.

But, please do go ahead and file your suit. Will make a laughable artice for us to comment on somewhere down the road.
Posted by Tom - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes ago

Dear Posters,
Happy holidays! Here’s some food for thought. Notice how BIGLAW 1ST YEAR has chosen to hide behind his silly screen name. If he really meant what he said, he would “man-up” and stand behind it with a signature. Unfortunately, he realizes that to do such would be disasterous to his beloved salary; namely, because I for one, would simply forward the post to his managing partner. I am pretty certain the effect of that would obviate his concerns and rights associated with his “contractual entitlement” to a bonus. As an added plus, his assistant might get a better team mate.

What’s more, assistants are far more valuable to partners than Mr. BIGLAW is as a first year rookie . . . afterall, it is the assistants who enter the billing, and as everyone knows, it is the billing that puts money in the partner’s pockets and bonuses in the hands of undeserving folks like BIGLAW. Simply put, BIGLAW is a child who is unable to stand behind his words - the hallmark of a great attorney indeed!

Cheers,
Tom
Posted by BIGLAW 1ST YEAR - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 7 hours, 15 minutes ago

And Happy Holidays to you all as well! Wow, the Christmas spirit seems to have filled a many of the posters responding to my two posts. Instead of engaging in academic banter over the merits of my propositions, which is what I had expected of attorneys and future attorneys, the postings have went negative, and fast. I’ve been called a “fool,” “bottom feeder,” “jackass,” “[one who has] no friends,” “incredibly miserly and selfish,” “pathetic,” and been described as worth less than a secretary.

Although I won’t come down to your level, at the risk of proving that I am a fool (again) (see post #29), here is my response. I have no intention of filing a lawsuit, quite obviously, as court costs alone would outweigh any relief I may be granted (and it is very doubtful I would win). Such an argument is simply frivolous and is a red-herring that posters lack substantive arguments.

Tell you my name? No. 99% of the people in here don’t post their names, and as for the ones that do, who am I to know whether that is their real name. For that matter, who cares. Let’s keep this civil, Tom, there is no reason for you to try to get me into trouble for disagreeing with you. This is America, right?

As for what my secretary deserves, my point is that I should not be forced to spend $100 on her. I have worked here less than 3 months. She has only done work for me once and it took her about 10 minutes (most first year associates that I know rarely have their secretaries do any work for them). I mistakenly said before that this amount doubles every year, I asked another associate and found out it goes up a mere 150% every year (i.e. $100, $150, $225, $337.5, $506.25). Surely, the secretary feels a sense of entitlement because of this. Moreover, secretaries at my firm get paid a lot for their skill level.

I believe in bonuses, do not get me wrong, however, the same arguments that apply to lawyers should apply to secretaries. There should be no “sense of entitlement and self-worth” (post #1) and “Bonus Shmonus. My idea of a bonus is having a place to work.” (post #4). I should be able to give a discretionary bonus based on merit to my secretary. This is like when you go to a restaurant and have such a large party that gratuity will be automatically included at 18% or 20%; in my experience, you get worse service because they know they don’t have to “work” for it. I want my secretary to “work” for my bonus.
Posted by anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 7 hours, 9 minutes ago

BIGLAW 1ST YEAR: Here is my problem. “she is right outside my office and will copy anything I want her to and do a handful of other tricks. “ You refer to a secretary as I refer to a dog. That is disrespectful and shows your feeling of superiority over others. You are the type of person who makes me happy I decided not to work for a big law firm. I don’t really care what bonus you get or feel you are deserved. It is your complete disregard for the people that have to put up with your crap that disturbs me.
Posted by Enough Already - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 6 hours, 56 minutes ago

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Junior associates make more than they’re worth. Bonuses are (or should be) discretionary. Who cares?

Maybe the reason junior associates make so much money having few relevant skills (especially in year one - let alone after a mere three months practicing) is that the law partnership is buying an option on their future earnings and locking out the competition from their services. Sure, lawyers are notoriously bad business people, but if this pay scheme didn’t work I can’t imagine they’d keep it.

So, everyone, enjoy your families and friends during this holiday season. Relax. Watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” at least three times and let’s meet back here in 2008!
Posted by LawSlave - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 6 hours ago

NonProfit Lawyer: check your math. 200 hours of time for $4000 = 20 per hour.

The focus here has to be on how much money the firm is making off your back, and the lawyer not getting rewarded. There are certainly many hard-working attorneys that do not work in large firms that “deserve” lots of money. If you chose not to work in BIGLaw or couldn’t get in, get over it. However, when you choose to work at a large firm for the financial rewards and not for the mushy-gushy feel-good feelings or personal satisfaction, and the firm fails to follow through, that is shameful.
Posted by BR - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 5 hours, 51 minutes ago

It’s a free market - lawyers, law firms, and clients all pick who they chose to play with. I guess nobody in this country trusts good old market economics to solve these “problems.“
Posted by Joe - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 5 hours, 26 minutes ago

Wow! Some of these comments are crazy. People are upset because they won’t get $35,000 as a bonus this year? I don’t understand it. No one is entitled to a bonus. As someone mentioned, it is extra. Most lawyers in large firms are paid extremely well. Working extra hours is a part of the job of being a lawyer; get use to it. I know state’s attorneys who put in 70 hour weeks, barely make $40,000 a year, and never get a year-end bonus.
Posted by Santa - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes ago

You’re all stricken from my list. To hell with the lot of you. Govern yourselves accordingly.
Posted by IBS - 11 months, 1 week, 4 days, 2 hours, 58 minutes ago

Spare me. All of you. Big firm associates get paid at market rates. It doesn’t matter whether others don’t think that they are not worth it, obviously the consumers of big firm services are willing to pay for them. That’s capitalism baby. I was one and I never thought I was worth what they paid me, but I was happy to accept it and the very generous bonuses that came my way every year. Forget the snide comment about the copier, BIGLAW didnt’ start it and who cares anyway.
Posted by Sickofitlawyer - 11 months, 1 week, 3 days, 23 hours, 46 minutes ago

No, a bonus isn’t extra. A bonus is part of my compensation. I keep hours that are worse than an ER doctor, yet I get screwed at bonus time? You folks can go back to your strip mall law practice and leave BIGLAW to those of us with the intellect, credentials, and drive to practice in it. I am sick and tired of hearing people talk about how overpaid biglaw associates are, when the people talking are lucky if Starbucks will let them pour coffee. You don’t know a thing about the incredibly stressful and tiresome life of a biglaw associate (and you never will).
Posted by David - 11 months, 1 week, 3 days, 8 hours, 20 minutes ago

Thanks, Santa! I agree with you.
Posted by Peace on Earth - 11 months, 1 week, 3 days, 7 hours, 8 minutes ago

Dear All: Let’s really get to the bottom of the issue here: Law School is way overpriced. As someone observed, it could be $250k+ to get a JD. Why is law school so much? They don’t need any special facilities (for example, a proton accelerator or an electron scanning microscope). The key problem is that law schools focus too much on what BigLaw pays and apply that principle to everyone and assume that everyone will make megasalaries when they graduate. The result: Those few (1% or less) who get BigLaw jobs use that salary to pay off law school debt. Those who do not are saddled with debt for the rest of their lives scraping by. Plus many of those who would have gladly worked in public service or some other valiant cause but are offered the opportunity to work in BigLaw find themselves in a dilemma: “save the world” or save their credit history. Unfortunately, anyone in their right mind, must usually take the latter. The law schools need to be straightened out and no longer focus nearly everything on the assumption that everyone will make six figure salaries out of the box (i.e. from the huge tuition to the nature of Career Development Activities geared towards BigLaw interviewing). In the meanwhile, let’s not attack one another about what the other person happens to make or how the other person chooses to practice in a profession that is so diverse in its range of services, practice areas, and types of clients. It just makes us all look bad and takes the focus off the problem that education costs have skyrocketed to the detriment of all and without any justification.
Posted by Anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 3 days, 6 hours, 5 minutes ago

DLP Piper is right—a bonus is just that, a bonus—it is not deferred comp and it is too bad that associates do not understand that.
Posted by Anonymous - 11 months, 1 week, 3 days, 5 hours, 55 minutes ago

Last year McDermott told associates that it had no hours minimum to receive a bonus. Apparently this year it changed its mind, but didn’t tell any of us that it had changed the rules for bonuses until it announced “no bonus” to a large number of associates. This year, with just under 2,000 hours and excellent reviews, I received no bonus. As a mid-level associate at McDermott, this year I actually made less money than last year, with the exact same hours. Although McDermott is claiming that it “matched the market”, it did not. Associates with less than 2,000 hours received no bonus and unless you billed 2,200 hours or more, your bonus was (at best) half of what is was last year. In a less than stellar year McDermott has sacrificed its hard working associates so that it can claim that its profits per partner actually increased. Rumor has that McDermott also “unslated” lateral partners who were promised to be made capital partner because it had a slow year.
Posted by good grief - 11 months, 1 week, 2 days, 9 hours, 50 minutes ago

I’ve been reading these comments to ABA articles for about 3 months now… and all I can say is that I am glad as hell I have absolutely nothing in common with the “cream rises to the top..“ delusions of “BIGLAW”
Posted by Mike Hunt - 11 months, 1 week, 2 days, 8 hours, 1 minute ago

I can’t sympathize too much. As a hard working mope earning $85K in a government job after 15 years (and no “bonus”—unless you count stale cookies 3 days ago at a holiday meeting), I think all the hooey about bonuses ought to be bottled up and sent to sea. If you work hard, you should get paid as well as possible by the employer. If you don’t, you’ll be out on your keester soon enough, unless your a special case here (minority or related to the boss). I say go for the bucks, if you can, because once you retire, you won’t have any money coming in. Lawfirms make money so they have to pay money to make money, right? Here in government, we depend on taxes and allocations from Congress to keep us afloat. No one, except the top senior executive service workers gets much. Those guys get to have drivers and cars, but that’s it. If there is anything else they get, it’s not above the table, so we don’t know about it.
Posted by Chris Daughtry - 11 months, 1 week, 2 days, 7 hours, 35 minutes ago

To all of you whiners who had expectations of bonuses in the double digits and weren’t satisfied: Shut up and move on. There are people in Iraq and Afghanistan right now who will not be home with their families for the holidays. If I had it my way, I would take every dollar in bonuses from every whining associate at every law firm in this country and distribute it among those brave souls who pay for your freedom. I am a 1L, and a former Army Ranger. You snivelers make me ashamed to be in law school. Consider yourselves lucky to be in a profession where you are amply compensated and are able to do the type of work you are passionate about. That should be enough for you. As for your bonuses, it has always been my experience (and I can assure you that I have a lot more than 99% of you first and second years associates since I spent the last nine years of my life as a litigation paralegal) that bonuses reflect what you are worth (get it?). If bonuses were structured into the employment agreements that you signed and you feel that you’ve been wronged, then break out your dusty Farnsworth books, review Contracts, and make a move. Chances are, you got what you contracted for (and are worth). You make it sound like you were forced into an adhesion contract. Take it from a guy who worked his way through college on the GI Bill and the (blood) sweat (and tears) of his brow: BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU GET! If you don’t like your situation, do something about it. I am going through law school at 35 years old with three kids at home to feed. Once I graduate, I’ll be happy if I earn enough to put food on the table and drive back and forth to work. Get over your selves.
Posted by TW - 11 months, 1 week, 1 day, 8 hours, 45 minutes ago

What is lost in this discussion is the fact that the Big firms are buying off their associates integrity. Billing fraud is still an ethical violation at the very least, and incentives to falsify timesheets erode the profession. I hope Biglaw reads the ethical canons, and I also hope he/she looks at the timesheets when they go out. I’ll bet that detestable secretary’s time is on the invoice puffing up the associate’s billables. That is the way the game is played.
Posted by Been There Done That - 11 months, 1 week, 12 hours, 29 minutes ago

BIG LAW: you might grow up eventually and consider that the “copier” who is sittting right outside your door is an indispensible part of your practice. Actually, let me clarify, it is not your practice but your that of the law firm you work for and if your attitude is the same in 10 years when you are up for partner, it never will be your practice.

By way, with the 35,000.00 bonus you got did you buy a map that showed you the way to the courtroom?
Posted by cc - 11 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 45 minutes ago

PATHETIC
Posted by FamLaw - 11 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 8 minutes ago

As a private practioner in a 3 lawyer family law firm out west, I am always amazed at the comments made about salaries and bonus’s at this site. I suspect that most of the legal world had little to do with giant firms that pay $150,000 or more to a first year associate.

When I hired my first associate 12 years ago (2nd in his class) I paid 1/2 of what the big firms in our state paid. But we quickly firgured out that I was paying him more per hour than his friends got who went “big.“ He did not work weekends or evenings and had no minimum billable hours. The plan was simple: “show up for work, work hard while at work and have a life.“

Now as we add another lawyer we all still have happy lives, take lots of time off, enjoy our practice and everyone at the office is still married to their first spouse.

Many of you may shudder when you hear I “only” made $350K in a small town in Oregon after working for 30 years in private practice. But I think that is pretty darn good when I can take 14 weeks off per year, get home by 6 and still be married to my first wife.

We give our staff good retirement, health insurance and nice bonus’s not only at Xmas but often duing the year. We have simple a rule for the employees: our job is to make them happy and their job is make the lawyers look good. And it’s working. We get top students applying for work not because we pay the highest wage but because we are an enjoyable place to work and we will share the wealth as your career matures. Of course we only want to hire lawyers who share our values of balance.

Many of us went to law school because we could control our own destinies and enjoy our work. I agree with those that say you can always hang up your shingle and work on your own. It’s quite rewarding and I might point out that the better you treat your secretary, the court stafff and even the opponents staff, the better you will do in your career.
Posted by Jonathan Edwards - 11 months, 5 days, 16 hours, 59 minutes ago

So, there will be no bonuses for me, but then, anything billed over 20 hours per week is a bonus, since I have discovered that I can live comfortably on $50K per year in my small town. I have a really cute secretary that I trained myself, the daughter of a friend. I suspect that I might get five years work out of her, then her younger sister is going to want the job, because my secretary is discovering law is exciting and is considering going to law school. looks like my first secretary may be my first associate, then my partner. Bonus? if she decides to go to law school, I will pay for it. It will be worth every penny.
Posted by none the better - 11 months, 5 days, 9 hours, 1 minute ago

A word on SF based Jackson & Wallace, a non-“big law” firm with tentacles elsewhere:

Summary: it sucks. They are not only run by a terrible group, and it is a lousy place to have to be, but to top it off, they have a completely illusory bonus policy. Entirely discretionary. Fraud, practically, because they say one thing in interview,and in rality, it is the opposite. Moreover, lots of false things in their website, particularly such is the retention. Reality is, a fair to shocking high turnover.

OK, I feel better. Heed this advice.
Posted by 1st year - 11 months, 3 days, 22 hours, 23 minutes ago

A yearly bonus is the old “carrot on a stick.“ If there is no carrot, why bust your butt and be an excellent employee all year long. It should be reasonable, but a fair award for what the employee has given. I could have surfed the net all year and played solitaire and collected my paycheck, but I worked late, worked weekends, never missed a day, and took no vacation. After salary, I made my boss 260k. I don’t think 10% of that is unreasonable for a bonus. A salesman with a GED would probably cry murder on that type of commission.

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