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There are a lot of changes going on at Boies Schiller. Most of these changes have been a deliberate effort to move away from the eat-what-you-kill model that resulted in a series of associated fiefdoms and towards a more traditional Biglaw model.
The latest change that puts the firm more in line with its peers is a radical departure on their bonus structure. For a long time, the firm prided itself on its generous bonus formula that includes a revenue share component that affords associates a cut of the matters they work on, which for contingency work can be massive.
According to a report from Law.com, Boies Schiller is making a move towards market rate bonuses:
In a statement, co-managing partner Nick Gravante confirmed that Boies Schiller is adopting a new associate compensation system, although he did not provide further details about the previous formula system or that the new system would be market-based. He said the compensation changes are a “positive step in the firm’s ongoing restructuring, which ensure that associate compensation is aligned with the firm’s strategic goals.”
Gravante also confirmed that current Boies Schiller associates may choose which bonus structure to be compensated with. ”We believe associates are substantially benefited by having the option of staying with our current system or choosing the new system,” he added.
Though Gravante was tightlipped about the new structure, sources at the firm say the scale is “slightly higher than the market rate set by Milbank” last year.
There have also been criticism of Boies’s bonus structure’s opacity. And while junior associates often make out better than peers at other firms, senior associates often compare less favorably than the market standard. And one slow year at the firm can have compounding effects:
Associates who did not hit their minimum hours would be put “in the red,” meaning that they had to make up the money and hours the following year. One former Boies Schiller attorney equated this rollover to a “debtor’s prison.”
The new compensation system is an effort to bring more transparency to the firm, where office managing partners and executive committee members are left in the dark regarding equity and compensation, sources close to the firm said.
It’ll be very interesting to see exactly what the firm’s bonus scale is when the end of 2020 finally rolls around.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).