Bonus season began in Biglaw over a week ago when Milbank gave the industry with a little kick in the pants with an early bonus announcement. Now Baker McKenzie has made their associates happy with a match to the industry standard with a change to the firm’s usual bonus payday. Because everyone loves a big bonus announcement, but getting the money earlier than expected makes it even sweeter.
The bonus scale is as follows:
Class of 2019 – $15,000 (pro-rated)
Class of 2018 – $15,000
Class of 2017 – $25,000
Class of 2016 – $50,000
Class of 2015 – $65,000
Class of 2014 – $80,000
Class of 2013 – $90,000
Class of 2012 – $100,000
Class of 2011+ – $100,000
As noted in the full memo, bonuses will be paid by the firm on January 31st. Sure, some firms are paying bonuses in December, but considering the firm’s tradition of paying bonuses in March, this has come as a welcomed surprise, from a tipster:
People are happy the money is coming earlier this year — usually paid in mid-March.
Plus! The firm will pay above these market rates for “exceptional performance.”
Remember, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] 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 all 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!
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).