Author: TSA Press

Matches,
matches,
everywhere!
Biglaw
firms
across
the
Am
Law
100
are
handing
out
Milbank
matches
to
their
hardworking
associates,
inclusive
of
the
compensation
leader’s

year-end
bonuses
and

special
bonuses.

The
latest
firm
to
make
a
big
bonus
announcement
is
A&O
Shearman.
The
recently
merged
firm
—
formed
from
the
union
of
Allen
&
Overy
and
Shearman
&
Sterling
—
grosses
$3.5
billion,
with
nearly
4,000
lawyers,
including
800
partners.
The
Biglaw
behemoth
clearly
wants
to
make
a
showing
of
its
strength,
so
the
megafirm
is
matching
the
generous
Milbank
bonus
scale.
Here’s
what
bonuses
look
like
at
A&O
Shearman:

Congratulations
to
everyone
at
A&O
Shearman!

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

X/Twitter
and

Threads
or
connect
with
her
on

LinkedIn.

Enter
your
email
address
to
sign
up
for
ATL’s

Bonus
&
Salary
Increase
Alerts.

Match,
match,
match,
match,
match,
match!
EVERYBODY!
Biglaw
firms
continue
to
follow
Milbank,
matching
the
compensation
leader’s

year-end
bonuses
and

special
bonuses.

Akin
is
one
of
the
latest
firms
to
announce
a
Milbank
bonus
match.
The
firm
brought
in
$1,369,427,000
gross
revenue
in
2023,
putting
it
at
No.
36
on
the
Am
Law
100.
Here’s
what
the
bonus
scale
looks
like
at
Akin:

As
usual,
the
firm
will
award
“exceptional”
bonuses
to
associates
who
had
“exceptional”
performance
this
year
(i.e.,
very
high
productivity).

Congratulations
to
everyone
at
Akin!

(Flip
to
the
next
page
to
read
the
full
memo
from
the
firm.)

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

X/Twitter
and

Threads
or
connect
with
her
on

LinkedIn.

Enter
your
email
address
to
sign
up
for
ATL’s

Bonus
&
Salary
Increase
Alerts.

Milbank’s
money
moves
are
reverberating
throughout
Biglaw,
with
firm
after
firm
matching
the
compensation
leader’s

year-end
bonuses
and

special
bonuses.

Willkie
Farr
&
Gallagher
—
which
brought
in
$1,500,000,000
gross
revenue
in
2023,
putting
it
at
No.
30
on
the
Am
Law
100
—
matched
the
prevailing
market
rate
last
Friday,
offering
up
a
generous
Milbank
match
for
its
associates.
Here’s
what
the
bonus
scale
looks
like
at
the
firm:

Congratulations
to
everyone
at
Willkie!

(Flip
to
the
next
page
to
read
the
full
memo
from
the
firm.)

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

X/Twitter
and

Threads
or
connect
with
her
on

LinkedIn.

Enter
your
email
address
to
sign
up
for
ATL’s

Bonus
&
Salary
Increase
Alerts.

*
Drake
files
RICO
lawsuit
to
accidentally
remind
us
all
how
good
“Not
Like
Us”
was.
[Rolling
Stone]

*
Jury
deliberations
begin
in
YSL
trial.
[Fox
5]

*
Should
aspiring
lawyer
disclose
18
month
porn
career
on
applications?
[LegalCheek]

*
Lawyer
thrived
using
fake
name
for
half
a
century.
[ABA
Journal]

*
Plan
to
use
military
to
engage
in
mass
deportations
expected
to
succeed
in
court
despite
statutory
bar
for
the
same
reason

boneless
wings
can
have
bones
in
them.
[Reuters]

*
Between
Elon,
Vivek,
and
now
Russ
Vought,
the
new
administration
signals
its
commitment
to
slashes
civil
service
jobs.
Which
historically
tends
to
INCREASE
costs
because
those
tasks
don’t
disappear,
they
just
get
outsourced
to
private
sector
firms
that
then
charge
a
premium
to
make
a
profit.
[Bloomberg
Law
News]

*
Damian
Williams
will
avoid
the
fate
that
befell
Preet
Bharara
and
step
down
before
the
inauguration.
Ed
Kim
will
take
over
in
the
interim.
[Law360]

*
Those
Weil
departures
took
a
couple
of
their
top
10
producers
off
the
board.
[American
Lawyer]

Ed.
Note:
Welcome
to
our
daily
feature

Trivia
Question
of
the
Day!

Which
Biglaw
firm
signed
the
biggest
lease
(333,437
square
feet)
through
the
first
nine
months
of
2024?

Hint:
The
firm
(and
its
600+
NY-based
attorneys)
will
be
staying
it
its
current
NYC
location
(for
at
least
the
next
20
years),
but
will
undergo
a
full
scale
renovation
of
the
space.

See
the
answer
on
the
next
page.

With
bonus
season
underway,
firms
are
scrambling
to
tell
their
employees
(and
competitors)
how
much
their
associates
can
expect
to
make
this
year.
Baker
Botts
joined
the
chorus
by
announcing
bonuses.
They
reported
$733,836,000
in
gross
revenue
and
profits
per
equity
partner
of
$2,457,000
in
2023
according
to
the
most
recent
Am
Law
100,
and
are
matching
the
Milbank
scale
for
both
annual
and
special
bonuses.
Here’s
the
scale:

That
amount
of
money
is
worth
being
thankful
for!

We
like
hearing
about
bonuses
almost
as
much
as
you
enjoy
spending
them.
As
soon
as
your
firm’s
memo
comes
out,
please email
it
to
us
(subject
line:
“[Firm
Name]
Bonus”)
or
text
us
(646-820-8477).
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
Salary
&
Bonus
Alerts,
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.

Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
 He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.

Enter
your
email
address
to
sign
up
for
ATL’s

Bonus
&
Salary
Increase
Alerts.

As
a
part
of
the
Legal
Marketing
Association’s
partnership
with
Above
the
Law,
each
month
we’re
here
to
share
a
roundup
of
insights
and
intel
from



Strategies
&
Voices,
the
online
trade
journal
dedicated
to
the
craft
of
legal
marketing.

Articles
in
this
edition
help
legal
marketers
empathize
with
clients’
buying
motivations,
collaborate
across
practice
areas,
and
understand
the
political
climate
surrounding
DEI
programs.

What
Do
Law
Firm
Clients
Really
Want?
A
Fresh
Look
at
Client
Motivations

Understanding
client
motivations
is
key
to
shaping
valuable
and
effective
legal
services.


Beneath
the
Service:
What
Law
Firm
Clients
Really
Buy

explores
how
law
firms
can
create
offerings
that
align
with
the
underlying
goals
driving
client
behavior.

The
article
introduces
four
primary
client
motivations
—
control,
belonging,
mastery,
and
exploratory
curiosity
—
and
their
corresponding
goal
facilitators:
markers
of
progress,
tools
and
skills,
allies
and
friends,
and
agents
of
change.
Successful
client
relationships
hinge
on
understanding
these
motivations
and
leveraging
value
activities
that
meet
their
needs.

Cross-Firm
Collaboration:
Setting
Up
for
Success

Cross-selling
is
an
exceptional
tool
for
increasing
client
revenue
and
“stickiness,”
but
it
must
be
done
with
an
approach
that
takes
into
account
both
client
goals
and
firm
realities.

In
the
podcast
episode


Collaborate
to
Elevate:
Enhancing
Client
Service
Through
Cross-Firm
Relationships,
four
legal
marketers
share
how
to
structure
strong
internal
partnerships,
communicate
effectively
and
keep
client
needs
at
the
forefront.

Debates
About
DEI

Amid
the
presidential
election,
the
topic
of
diversity,
equity
and
inclusion
became
a
hot-button
issue.

In
the
podcast


Merit,
Identity
and
Leadership:
Is
DEI
Under
Siege?,
a
panel
discusses
both
the
backlash
and
support
surrounding
DEI
initiatives,
as
well
as
the
broader
implications
these
conversations
have
in
our
law
firms
and
daily
lives.

Do
you
have
a
compelling
case
study
about
your
firm,
or
marketing
insights
to
share?


Share
your
ideas

with


Strategies
&
Voices

today.

Katherine
(Katie)
Hollar
Barnard
is
the
managing
partner
of
Firesign
|
Enlightened
Legal
Marketing,
a
communications
agency
for
law
firms
and
legal
service
providers.
She
also
serves
as
co-chair
of
the
LMA’s
Strategies
&
Voices
editorial
committee.

This
week,
President-elect
Donald
Trump

announced
celebrity
physician
Dr.
Mehmet
Oz
as
his
pick
to
lead
the
Centers
for
Medicare
&
Medicaid
Services.

Dr.
Oz
is
a
surgeon
who
hosted
a
syndicated
daytime
television
show
from
2009
to
2022,
and
he
also
unsuccessfully
ran
for
a
U.S.
Senate
seat
representing
Pennsylvania
in
2022.

Healthcare
leaders
have
mixed
feelings
about
Dr.
Oz’s
appointment. 

Can
Americans
be
sure
what
Dr.
Oz
really
stands
for?

Anu
Sharma
—
CEO
of

Millie,
a
startup
offering
hybrid
maternal
care
—
said
she
is
“not
sure
what
to
make”
of
Dr.
Oz’s
nomination.

“He
is
a
trained
physician,
yes.
But
he
has
also
taken
past
positions
on
unproven
treatments.
He
also
said
he
believed
in
universal
access
to
healthcare,
but
withdrew
support
for
the
ACA
and
has
since
signaled
support
for
more
privatized
models
like
Medicare
Advantage.
So
it’s
hard
to
know
what
he
really
thinks,”
she
explained.

Dr.
Oz
has
been
criticized
by
healthcare
experts
in
the
past
for
spreading
misinformation
about

unproven
Covid-19
treatments,
such
as
anti-malarial
drug
hydroxychloroquine.
He
has
also
come
under
fire
for
promoting

questionable
weight
loss
strategies
—
in
2018,
Dr.
Oz
reached
a

$5.25
million
settlement
for
endorsing
unproven
supplements
for
weight
loss.

Sharma
said
only
“time
will
tell”
whether
Dr.
Oz
is
a
good
choice
for
the
agency
responsible
for
the
healthcare
needs
of
some
of
the
country’s
most
vulnerable
citizens.

Could
the
U.S.
healthcare
system
fully
enter
the
digital
age?

Pouria
Sanae,
CEO
of
healthcare
technology
platform

ixlayer,
noted
that
Dr.
Oz’s
appointment
has
caused
more
discussion
than
any
previous
CMS
nomination
ever
has.

“Has
a
CMS
appointment
ever
drawn
so
much
attention
in
the
past?
Because
it
is
Dr.
Oz,
we
are
all
talking
about
it.
Because
of
his
celebrity,
Dr.
Oz
is
uniquely
positioned
to
raise
awareness
and
help
Americans
think
more
proactively
about
their
health
—
which
we
all
agree
is
still
much
needed.
And,
raising
awareness
among
the
American
public
about
the
role
of
the
CMS
and
the
politics
around
healthcare
is
a
good
thing,”
he
declared.

Sanae
believes
that
Dr.
Oz’s
passion
for
longevity
will
lead
him
to
embrace
technologies
that
empower
patients
to
take
control
of
their
health,
including
tools
that
make
it
more
convenient
for
patients
to
access
to
doctors,
testing
and
medications.

“Perhaps
Dr.
Oz
is
the
forward-thinking
physician
who
recognizes
the
need
for
America
to
bring
its
world-class
healthcare
system
fully
into
the
digital
age,”
he
remarked.

Might
Dr.
Oz
be
a
champion
for
food-as-medicine?

Ashley
Tyrner-Dolce,
CEO
of
food-as-medicine
startup

FarmboxRx,
pointed
out
that
Dr.
Oz
may
be
“working
hand-in-hand”
with
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.
Both
are
outspoken
about
the
positive
impact
that
a
healthy
diet
can
have
on
Americans’
health.

“This
signals
that
the
federal
government
will
likely
be
allocating
CMS
dollars
for
food-as-medicine
initiatives
—
with
poor
food
and
the
chronic
disease
epidemic
being
top
of
mind
for
both
men,”
she
stated.

In
her
view,
using
food
as
an
engagement
tool
is
an
economically
viable
solution
that
has
potential
to
mitigate
food
insecurity
and
improves
people’s
nutrition
—
which
could
in
turn,
provide
tangible
results
when
it
comes
to
improving
Americans’
health
outcomes.

Will
Dr.
Oz’s
appointment
decrease
access
to
weight
loss
treatments?

Brooke
Boyarsky
Pratt
—
CEO
of

knownwell,
a
primary
care
clinic
specializing
in
obesity
treatment
— 
pointed
out
that
more
than
70%
of
the
100
million
patients
insured
through
Medicaid
and
Medicare
are
overweight
or
obese.

“Ensuring
that
these
patients
have
coverage
for
evidence-based,
effective
obesity
treatment
is
critical
for
not
only
these
patients
but
for
the
health
of
the
U.S.
population
at
large.
From
their
public
statements,
Dr.
Oz
and
RFK
Jr.
appear
to
be
heavily
focused
on
non-medical
interventions,”
she
said.

Pratt
acknowledged
that
comprehensive
care
is
important
for
treating
the
nation’s
obesity
epidemic
—
but
in
her
view,
medical
intervention
delivered
by
clinicians
is
required
for
immediate
and
sustained
weight
loss.

Could
this
nomination
hurt
pharmaceutical
R&D?

Dave
Latshaw,
CEO
of
AI-powered
drug
development
startup

BioPhy,
noted
that
Dr.
Oz’s
appointment
could
affect
the
pharmaceutical
industry
in
a
couple
different
ways.

“His
stance
on
stricter
cost
controls
in
Medicare
and
Medicaid
would
compel
drug
developers
to
engage
in
more
challenging
price
negotiations,
potentially
compressing
profit
margins
across
the
sector,”
he
stated.

Additionally,
the
growing
emphasis
on
Medicare
Advantage
is
requiring
pharmaceutical
companies
to
demonstrate
stronger
cost-effectiveness
and
improved
outcomes
to
secure
coverage,
Latshaw
pointed
out.

“While
streamlined
CMS
processes
could
deliver
expedited
approvals
and
reimbursements,
proposed
privatization
reforms
could
fundamentally
alter
the
market
dynamics,
potentially
favoring
innovation
while
creating
challenges
for
high-cost
therapeutic
options,”
he
declared.

From
Latshaw’s
perspective,
these
pricing
pressures
and
regulatory
changes
could
ultimately
constrain
investments
in
research
and
development,
leading
drugmakers
to
prioritize
projects
with
higher
probability
of
returns.

Photo:
gustavofrazao,
Getty
Images