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The coronavirus crisis has ravaged the Biglaw scene, with salary cuts, furloughs, and layoffs abound. Some firms are delaying or reducing bonuses, and others are eliminating bonuses (and salary increases) entirely this year. Given the economic fallout of the pandemic, it seemed unlikely that any firm would be offering special bonus payouts — especially firms that had already slashed salaries across the board.
But that’s exactly what’s happening.
Sources tell us that Ogletree — a firm that reduced pay for equity partners (by 20 percent), associates (by 15 percent), and highly compensated staff (by 10 percent) for the remainder of 2020 — is offering a special bonus of $10,000 for associates who bill 1,700 hours in 2020. Associates who bill 1,900 hours will receive an additional $10,000 on top of the special bonus, and those who are able to somehow exceed 2,000 hours during COVID times will qualify for a bonus based on a percentage of their salary (whether that’s their salary before or after the reduction is another question).
In a brief memo about these bonuses (available on the next page), C. Matthew Keen, Ogletree’s managing shareholder, said, “While it is difficult to know what the future will hold, I hope this step demonstrates the firm’s commitment to treat all of our lawyers fairly while recognizing the economic challenges of the current situation.”
What would’ve been really fair here would’ve been for Ogletree to offer this bonus without an hours requirement. Instead, the firm is essentially asking its associates to work even harder to bill hours that may not be available for the chance to see some extra cash — cash they were originally due anyway that’s now going to be taxed as a bonus instead of as regular salary. Don’t expect these bonuses to catch on at firms at the top of the Biglaw heap, because they never cut salaries in the first place.
We reached out to Ogletree for comment, but have year to hear back.
Best of luck to associates as they try to recoup some of the money they’re losing due to the salary cuts through these special bonuses.
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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.