Biglaw
firms
like
Milbank
may
be
the
source
of
the
generous
year-end
and
special
bonus
scales
that
have
swept
the
legal
industry,
but
it’s
the
boutique
firms
where
associates
will
really
have
the
opportunity
to
pad
their
wallets.
Time
and
time
again,
boutique
firms
have
truly
spread
the
wealth
among
associates
this
bonus
season,
by
not
just
meeting
the
Milbank
scale,
but
oftentimes
completely
blowing
it
away.
The
latest
boutique
firm
to
hand
out
unbelievable
bonuses
to
associates
is
Bursor
&
Fisher.
Sources
at
the
firm
have
told
us
that
Scott
A.
Bursor,
the
firm’s
founder,
announced
bonuses
last
week
during
B&F’s
year-end
reviews,
which
were
held
at
the
Fountainebleu
Hotel
in
Miami
Beach.
All
lawyers
and
staff
from
the
firm’s
offices
in
New
York
and
California
were
flown
to
Miami
and
put
up
at
the
hotel
for
four
nights.
Bonuses
at
the
firm
are
not
lockstep,
and
are
instead
based
on
objective
criteria
like
business
origination
and
revenue
—
and
at
every
level,
they
were
well
above
the
Milbank
scale
(which
ranges
from
$15,000
to
$115,000,
plus
special
bonuses
ranging
from
$6,000
to
$25,000,
in
case
you’ve
forgotten).
So,
how
big
of
bonuses
are
we
talking?
We’ve
been
told
that
lawyers
at
the
firm
were
very
handsomely
rewarded
for
their
work,
with
bonuses
ranging
from
$50,000
for
first-year
associates
to
$100,000
or
more
for
second-year
associates.
Every
associate
in
the
class
of
2020
or
earlier
at
the
firm
made
at
least
$400,000
in
bonus
money,
with
the
top
bonus
going
to
a
fourth-year
associate
who
took
home
more
than
$725,000.
Yes,
you
read
that
correctly:
A
lucky
associate
at
this
firm
received
a
bonus
of
nearly
three
quarters
of
a
million
dollars.
A
very
big
congratulations
to
everyone
at
Bursor
&
Fisher.
Associates
at
the
firm
must
be
absolutely
thrilled
with
their
gigantic
bonuses!
Remember
everyone,
we
depend
on
your
tips
to
stay
on
top
of
compensation
updates,
so
when
your
firm
announces
or
matches,
please
text
us
(646-820-8477)
or email
us (subject
line:
“[Firm
Name]
Bonus/Matches”).
Please
include
the
memo
if
available.
You
can
take
a
photo
of
the
memo
and
send
it
via
text
or
email
if
you
don’t
want
to
forward
the
original
PDF
or
Word
file.
And
if
you’d
like
to
sign
up
for
ATL’s
Bonus
Alerts
(which
is
the
alert
list
we
also
use
for
salary
announcements),
please
scroll
down
and
enter
your
email
address
in
the
box
below
this
post.
If
you
previously
signed
up
for
the
bonus
alerts,
you
don’t
need
to
do
anything.
You’ll
receive
an
email
notification
within
minutes
of
each
bonus
announcement
that
we
publish.
Thanks
for
your
help!
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 Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
connect
with
her
on LinkedIn.
