Milbank opened the dam, then Cravath seconded that bonus scale. Now it’s a free for all as the elite Biglaw firms are throwing around cash to show they have the pocketbooks big enough to match.
The latest firm to announce bonuses is Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. This afternoon, the venerable firm sent around a memo announcing the expected match of market bonuses. I guess they’re particularly eager to show the recent partner defections won’t be having a negative impact on the firm’s prospects.
For those that need the reminder the 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
Bonuses will be paid by the firm on December 13th. (Full memo on the next page.)
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).