First in the duplicate post?

fidt@

Last!

who cares?

So what they are really saying is, "We would like to make sure we don't overpay you by a penny, so please sit tight."

Nothing quite like a brave law firm, to go out there on the edeg and do what THEY think is right, as opposed to what everyone else seems to be doing.

No wonder I never fit in in this field.

Associates:

Please commence rampant speculation and spread rumors regarding small bonuses.

That is all.

MWE Management

i hope you have kids, plain english. and i hope they act in a way that conforms with the view you espoused above: do what everyone else does, and do it as quickly as possible.

who the f cares if some firm wants to wait until they have their annual business reports in order before awarding bonuses? maybe they want to give more than they otherwise would and want to make sure their bottom line can handle it.

somehow i doubt there will be a mass exodus for cravath from mwe. call me crazy.

Associates,

We apologize for any inconvenience and particularly empathize with those associates ready to jump to a new firm as soon as they receive their bonus. We realize this may put you and your resume behind lateral candidates from other firms but, again, waiting in the "unusual year" will help us get a "better sense of the market" by delaying your moves. Carry on.

On a related note, the planned Hot Chocolate giveaways for days when the weather dips below 4 degrees Celsius for a minimum of 14.5 minutes has been cancelled due to surging commodity prices.

The Management

1:17, you're crazy.

Must be another slow news day. This is a non-story. Let us know when something interesting happens.

I have a feeling MWE's Bottom Line could handle just about anything. The only question is whether the Partners are willing to accept $1.9 mill as opposed to $2.0 mill. Hmm. Unlikely.

And actually, if you read my post closely, Anonymous, you'd see that I am not telling MWE to come out and make an announcement today regarding bonuses. Quite the contrary, I would like to see some firms do things their own way, without playing follow the leader. (By the way, MWE seems to have already fallen into that trap by tacitly responding to Cravath's bonus announcement within just 12 hours).

It strikes me as bit juvenile how these firms behave...are you telling me that the only way FIRM A can distinguish itself from FIRM B is in its end of year bonus? God, you know lawyers are a truly boring bunch of people when the only distinguishing characteristic between them is their paycheck.

Pathetic.

This post is filler.

1:39- your comment is filler

MWE is not BigLaw - the post needs to be recharacterized...Since MWE is not BigLaw obviously their bonuses will not be BigLaw bonuses - why is this even an issue?

Not-so Plain English: the MWE memo is from 3 weeks ago.

Not-So Plain English: You're correct. But it doesn't change my point that MWE is sitting on their hands waiting for one of their peer law firms to make the first move.

Does anybody in this profession have the f@!*ing balls to be different? No wonder why I'm bored with law!

I'm so bored with myself, is sprinkles or hot fudge around?

your life is filler

Breaking news: Nixon Peabody to $65K

whats the deal with mcderm fleece blankets for offerees? i turned them down w/in about a week. do i still get the blanket?

Loyola to Tier 1

1:49 - McDermott is #20 on AmLaw and #50 on Vault. Why isn't it "BigLaw"? I ask because I am actually curious; I have a feeling it doesn't have a great reuputation and I wonder why.

MWE is classic biglaw. They even just de-equitized several dozen partners last month (allegedly)

2:25, don't sweat it. MWE's reputation isn't "bad." The thing is that there are only a handful of firms that are really the "go to" firms for the most significant deals or litigation in the country, and MWE simply isn't one of those firms. Neither are about 190 firms in the AmLaw 200, which is - presumably - the most exhaustive list of "BigLaw."

So yes, MWE is BigLaw. But it isn't the biggest law (it isn't Wachtell, Cravath, or even Skadden). Their bonuses will match market, which means $34k for first years. Wait and see.

If your firm pays $160k to first years, you're biglaw. Despite the fact that reputations vary.

McDemott is biglaw. It is not that McDermott has a bad reputation . . . they simply have no reputation. McDermott has a cultural philosophy of shunning any media attention. The logic was: No media is better than bad media. It is just a conservative approach to marketing. Notwithstanding that, McDermott is involved in some big litigation, large administrative matters, and major corporate deals. Obviously it is not at the Cravath or Wachtell level . . . but really, who is?

For full disclosure - I am a senior McDermott associate.

2:45 - Thanks. That was helpful and nice. It's good to know that not everyone who reads this gets a kick out of being rude anonymously.

Yeah, I agree. It is nice to see people being nice on here, even under the veil of anonymity. For the record, I am often rude on here because I am often rude in person. But at least I admit it.

fleece blankets? that sounds fancy.

details, por favor.

fleece blankets? sounds fancy.

details, por favor.

The blankets are wonderful. Grey fleece with the firm name screen printed on it in navy.

Nice, heavy fleece...

sweatshirt blankets!

Troutman does fleece blankets

2:45 -- The average first year bonus at MWE was far less than 34k last year. The firm's internal materials indicated an average first year bonus of less than 20k, but that was for first year associates who _got_ a bonus. While a majority did receive one, averaging in the 30% or so who didn't probably pulls the average down closer to 10k.

1:08 - While the firm probably intended this move to save them money, those of us who know the firm well know that if they had to decide our bonuses without reference to the market, they would probably lowball us pretty badly. Hopefully, all the firms MWE considers its "peers" won't be a bunch of cheapskates, and MWE will be shamed into compensating us fairly, albeit grudgingly.