We
absolutely
love
it
when
law
firms
keep
it
cool
by
matching
Milbank’s
generous
year-end
bonus
scale…
or
in
this
case,
we
suppose
they’re
keeping
it
“kool.”
Sources
report
that
McKool
Smith
—
the
Texas-based
complex
trial
firm
that’s
been
handing
out
money
to
associates
hand
over
fist
for
years
—
announced
its
year-end
bonuses
last
week,
and
it’s
not
surprising
that
the
firm
is
matching
Milbank.
As
a
cherry
on
top
of
this
bonus
sundae,
the
firm
is
offering
additional
cash
to
associates
who
have
diligently
attended
to
their
billable
hours
obligations,
with
some
attorneys
walking
away
with
bonuses
exceeding
the
Milbank
scale
by
more
than
35%.
You
may
recall
that
McKool
Smith
was
one
of
the
few
firms
to
offer
up
bonuses
this
past
summer,
ranging
from
$2,500
to
$30,000,
based
on
their
annualized
billable
hours.
Associates
still
have
the
opportunity
to
true-up
their
summer
bonus
money
if
they
move
into
another
hours-based
bonus
tier
by
year’s
end,
so
they’ll
be
able
to
make
even
more
money.
All
in
all,
associates
at
the
firm
are
ending
the
year
with
a
really
nice
chunk
of
change.
Congratulations
to
everyone
at
McKool
Smith!
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.
