this is not matching.

THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY NOT FIRST.

first

first

Awful... Why bother sending this memo?

Camera phone? This is dumb. Why not just scan it?

Reflects the general stupidity of Kramer Levin and its associates.

First?

Why bother making it look like the other firms' memos? Do they think people wouldn't read it all the way through?

first

To: Camera Phone... Yikes... sounds like your application for employment was rejected by Kramer Levin.

You bill 2150 and you get the bonuses. What's the big deal? It isn't hard to hit that total unless you're surfing the effing web most days. Stop acting like you are entitled to the money just for being an employee occupying a seat.

BOOOOO!

I think the camera phone method is pretty funny. Probably did it while laughing. Sorry to disappoint those of you unoriginal bastards who wanted a basic scan. Get a life.

Actually the camera phone is quite ingenious - same as a scan, but with less risk (getting busted at office scanner by a colleague).

To: What's the Big Deal?: Amen!!!!!!

This doesn't satisfy my hunger for bonus news...

I cannot believe STB did not match today.

It's a big mother effing to deal to not have your firm pony up when you've billed 2500 hours already this year ...

Still have to be careful with a camera phone. The owner's name could come up in the exif info (jpeg metadata). I couldn't find any here, though.

Is 6:14 / STBroke a troll? Simpson was one of the first firms to match:

http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/10/associate_bonus_watch_simpson.php

first diggity first bitches!!!

To STBroke - simpson matched days ago, they were the second after Debevoise.

It is pretty pissy to have a billables requirement and not say what it is firmly.

Does anyone think Schulte is gonna match?

I like the cameraphone technique. Very spy-like, and gets the job done quickly without any trace on the firm's system. Anyone remember when bonus announcements used to feel like secrets?

But when are the cheap bastards at Cravath, S&C, Davis Polk, Paul Weiss, Cleary, Weil, and Skadden going to match?

has anyone even ever heard of this law firm?

To 6:17 and 6:20--if you don't stop responding to them, people like STBroke will continue with their lame-ass trollery.

I agree with 6:12: "This doesn't satisfy my hunger for bonus news..."

This is like being served an appetizer as your whole meal.

Or maybe like those crispy noodles in Chinese restaurants, with no appetizer or entree.

More bonus news please!

It didn't really matter which thread, I just wanted to share this with ATL generally:
http://comics.com/comics/pearls/archive/pearls-20071108.html

6:35 -- Pearls before swine is brilliant. It's written by a former lawyer, God bless him...

So are we supposed to infer that Year-End would come at 2,000 and special bonus @ 2,150?

you people who say no big deal (6:07) are the only people I know who would prefer payment based on a contingency that is often not within your control vs. an identical amount guaranteed.

Imagine a client saying something that dumb.

i'm a subprime resi securitization lawyer and i'm confused - should i be grateful that my firm hasn't shitcanned me or pissed that they are going to nobonus me?

you folks who maintain that the hours thing is no big deal are on the money. unless a firm that was lockstep last year becomes non-lockstep this year b/c of the special goodies (which has not happened yet, as far as i can tell), i think the whole "this is not matching" angle is a complete non-story and waste of space on this board, most likely promulgated by first years at other non-lockstep firms that have yet to announce who have not yet gone through a bonus cycle. if your firm had an hours requirement last year, it will have one this year - matching is in the eye of the beholder and, for people who work at non-lockstep firms and are all too cognizant of the hours requirement tied to market bonuses, linking the market bonus to a minimum of hours equals a match, no matter how you slice it. to those voicing the outcry, your rebellious enthusiasm is admirable, but i think a little misguided (if not naive). thank you, and good night.

Wilson Elser just mathced.

So by that logic, Fried Frank was shook loose by going from lock-step, no hours, to an hours requirement. Everyone else remains the same as last year, either lock-step guaranteed bonuses or some sort of hours requirement(s).

And for those 2Ls with outstanding offers, choosing between an hours-based bonus and a lockstep bonus, there are certainly differences. I think saying that this Kramer Levin Out By Seven memo doesn't match Cravath's (or Paul Weiss, or Debevoise, or Willkie, or STP) when it comes to bonuses is completely appropriate and informative.

@6:22: I think the reason the hours component isn't spelled out is because bonus season came very early and Kramer wants to indicate that they are matching market, but aren't sure what to do with their hours threshold legacy. In recent years there has been movement away from the hours requirement and toward a lock-step system, but they probably haven't had time to figure it out this year. That's why they "expect" it to be the same. It may actually be less. It's not pissy. Rather, it's nice of them to let us know that the numbers are going to be market numbers even as they figure out the hours framework. Tell me, how many associates at Cravath, STB, S&C, etc. have billed less than 2150 in the past year? I bet almost none.

Trust me, a fair amount of associates at top firms bill less than 2150 a year. Its a fact. I'd say people probably average reported in the NALP guidelines (1950-2000 for the firms you mentioned I think). The whole machismo of "I billed 2400 hours and its November" is BS for the most part, as far as I can tell.

2000 a year is no biggee, but 2400 last year and 1900 this year = one bonus, where 2050 last year and 2020 this year = two bonuses. That's kind of dumb..

The law firm of Rusty Davenport, Esq. just matched!!!

Sigh. I want to see a bonus memo that says, we don't know what this "special" business is all about, but we're matching the total amount.

Oh, and 9 pm, not BS. Depends on your practice area, I think.

What about the CA and DC firms? Kramer may be cheap, but at least it's not a TTT like Latham, Gibson, Covington, Hogan and A&P....

DC firms are all TTT.

NYC Bonus List of Shame

2008 Vault Rank / Firm / 2006 RPL
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 Latham & Watkins LLP / $920,000
9
10 Covington & Burling LLP
* 11 Kirkland & Ellis LLP / $1,035,000(Punted)
12
13
14
15 Wilmer Cutler / $890,000
16 Williams & Connolly LLP / $955,000
17 Sidley Austin LLP
18 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP / $1,050,000
19 O'Melveny & Myers LLP
20
21 Arnold & Porter LLP / $855,000
22 Jones Day
23 Morrison & Foerster LLP
24
25
26 Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft / $1,000,000
27 Hogan & Hartson LLP
28 Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
29
30 Ropes & Gray LLP / $855,000
31 Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
32
33 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP / $840,000
34 Winston & Strawn LLP
35
36 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
37 Linklaters
38 Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
39 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
40 Proskauer Rose LLP
41. King and Spalding
42. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
43.
44. Baker & McKenzie
45. Baker Botts LLP
46. Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP / $980,000
47. Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP / $1,025,000
48. Dechert LLP
49. Irell & Manella LLP / $1,050,000
50. McDermott, Will & Emery / $875,000
51. Jenner & Block LLP
52.
53. Allen & Overy LLP
54. DLA Piper
55.
56. Fish & Richardson P.C.
57. Fulbright & Jaworski LLP
58. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
59. Goodwin Procter LLP
60. Cooley Godward LLP
...
67. (Kaye Scholer Matched w/ Performance Reqs.)
92. (Kramer Levin Matched w/ Perf. Reqs.)
NR. McKee Nelson (Failed to Match)

BONUS STATUS BY 2006 RPL
Rank 2006 in revenue
by revenue Revenue per lawyer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Wachtell ABOVE MARKET $2,455,000 2.5%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Sullivan & Cromwell MARKET & ABOVE MARKET FOR SENIOR ASSOC. $1,565,000 1.3%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Wiley Rein $1,520,000 162.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Cravath MARKET $1,355,000 5.9%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Davis Polk MARKET $1,200,000 4.8%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Simpson Thacher-MARKET $1,200,000 6.7%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 McKee Nelson BELOW MARKET $1,190,000 1.7%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Milbank, Tweed MARKET $1,110,000 10.4%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 Skadden MARKET $1,095,000 10.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 Cahill Gordon MARKET $1,075,000 8.6%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 Fragomen, Del Rey $1,070,000 26.6%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 Gibson, Dunn $1,050,000 4.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 Irell & Manella $1,050,000 9.9%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 Kirkland & Ellis PUNTED $1,035,000 5.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 Paul, Weiss MARKET $1,035,000 0.5%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 Munger, Tolles $1,025,000 18.5%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 Quinn Emanuel $1,020,000 28.3% SLIGHTLY ABOVE MARKET BUT PARTIALLY DEFERRED
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18 Shearman & Sterling MARKET $1,010,000 2.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 Debevoise & Plimpton MARKET $1,005,000 8.6%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 Cadwalader BONUS ANNOUNCED, NO $ FIGURES $1,000,000 6.4%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21 Boies, Schiller $980,000 3.2%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21 Weil, Gotshal MARKET $980,000 2.6%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23 Cleary Gottlieb MARKET $975,000 7.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 Willkie Farr MARKET $970,000 12.8%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 Williams & Connolly $955,000 2.7%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 Finnegan, Henderson $945,000 11.2%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 Townsend and Townsend $940,000 6.2%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28 Fried, Frank $930,000 MARKET 4.5%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 Schulte Roth $925,000 6.9%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 Latham & Watkins $920,000 5.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 Wilmer Cutler $890,000 5.3%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
32 McDermott Will $875,000 12.9%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
33 Kaye Scholer MARKET WITH POSSIBILITY OF MORE & PERF. REQS. $865,000 7.5%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
34 Arnold & Porter $855,000 4.9%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
34 Ropes & Gray $855,000 1.8%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
36 Choate, Hall $850,000 10.4%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
36 Kramer Levin MARKET W/ PERF. REQS. $850,000 6.3%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
38 Heller Ehrman $845,000 5.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
39 Akin Gump $840,000 7.7%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Hughes Hubbard $835,000 12.1%

Not listed: Dewey (Market with hours requirement)
Clifford Chance (Market)
White & Case (Market)

Bonus List of Shame
by NY Attorneys (Source: Crains)

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9) Sidley Austin
10) Proskauer
11)
12)
13)
14)
15) Schulte
16) Wilson Elser
17)
18)
19) Latham & Watkins
20)
21)
22)
23)
24)
25) Greenberg Taurig

Latham ought to be ashamed of itself. Was it always this cheap?

yes, Latham partners are notoriously greedy.

oh NOOES!!! Can I has a classy memo instead?

camera phone PWN3D the douches who dont like it

well done

This is horseshit. 2150 is not market, just like the bonus is not market. Why pay it in February?

I used to work there (NY office). So I speak from personal experience. The partners are very greedy indeed, and the firm as a whole is stingy. They, for instance, give only 3 weeks of paid vacation. I don't know any top-tier NY firm that does that. Their so-called "merit-based" bonus system is a joke. Latham is typically one of the last firms to respond (not necessarily match) to salary raise by other firms.

8:56, but Kramer isn't matching market. Market is cravath. Or, rather, Cravath is setting the standard. Many firms are "matching" with qualifications and caveats - but there is no real transparency to know just how many associates are denied or given the bonus. For all intents and purposes, we have to assume it's not a match unless it's a literal non-discretionary lockstep bonus match like Cravath. Very surprisingly (to me, at least) Cravath seems to have succeeded in differentiating among the NY firms even among the best (i.e. Skadden) between those willing to go the extra mile and those who are going to leave themselves wiggle room.

FIRST !!!!!!!

Latham is the crappiest law firm. It will never be in the same league as NY based firms. Even D&L and Weil look better than Latham even though Latham has similiar PPP. CA firms are ALL TTT. And DC firms, too.

latham is always slow to match... that being said, they do match and I doubt any idiot would take Kramer Levin over Latham because they matched a few days earlier - when you were choosing between law firms I doubt you looked into old salary/bonus issues to see who matched when. The only info that is important is the numbers and arguably who led the charge - but that is always S&C - the firm that matches second within a day of S&C gets just as much credit in my book as the firm that does it 2 weeks later - some firms actually like to discuss these policy changes rather than just blindly copying the firm that is down the street

to former latham associate: the actual number of vacation days are totally irrelevant, if you can accumulate the hours you can pretty much take off as many vacation days that you want

also, the merit based bonus system is the exact same as it is in any law firm in NYC, you get market if you show up to work and breath. If you bill substantially more, you might get more.

that being said, latham in CA typically has larger bonuses than the other non-ny firms in the area, typically 7k less than the market bonus in ny - granted the NY firms pay market bonus in all of their offices, but they do have smaller outposts and I am not trying to start a CA v NY fight

12:12 has it exactly right.

and 12:44 must've missed the half dozen memos that came out before S&C's.

I heard from a friend at Mckee Nelson that they announced a severence packge today to its capital markets associates...bonus and four months severance pay. I think if my firm decided to offer a package like that, I'd take it.

12:48 about latham is exactly right. they are generally above market. one of the few firms that give you complete autonomy and ability to run your own schedule. i literally come to the office only when i need to based on client needs. granted you work a whole lot at that firm if you are in a busy practice group. i must say that i have been nicely surprised by the way above market and above expectations bonuses that i have received from latham.

NY to ibank salaries...

NY to ibank bonuses

Boston to 200,000 in 2010!!!!!!!

I am so glad that some people are making some sane comments here:

1. People who insist that all v5 associates bill 2500 hours are just plain wrong (or, as many are beginning to suspect, just adamant on painting this bleak picture of v5 to make non-v5 associates feel better). I am at a v5 firm, and have many friends at v5 - many (certainly not all) of us bill about 1900-2000.

2. I don't understand the big fuss about firms conditioning their bonus according to the billable requirement. This has been market practice at most firms for years - I think someone has said it before: if firm X had a policy of "You will get the standard year-end bonus if you bill 2000", why should firm X suddenly change its policy to "Everyone will get the standard + special bonus irrespective of how many hours billed"? Just because Cravath/DPW/Simpson increased their bonus? Hello - Cravath/DPW/Simpson were always lockstep - they have not changed their policy!! So, there is no "policy change" here that all other firms must follow! If a firm had a billable hour requirement before, it will and should have it again now and next year.

3. To associates (or 2Ls!) who keep threatening that firms who do not match Cravath will become third tier toilets that all law students will avoid, give me a break! As a follow-on to my Point No. 2 above, since there has been no change in policy, how is firm X suddenly a TTT? Students last year had the exact same choice - firm with lockstep bonus vs. firm which ties bonus to billable hours. Therefore, comments like "Now that Kramer Levin has done this cheap thing, any decent 2L will avoid them and instead go to Cleary or Debevoise, who truly matched Cravath". Hello!! A student last year had the exact same choice - Kramer Levin, Cleary and Debevoise are doing exactly what they were doing last year.

I have heard that Latham's LA office gives no bonus if you don't meet the hours target (1950 I think). Anyone who works at Latham know if there is any truth to this? Did associates who billed 1800 at Latham LA get no bonus last year? Thanks.

Whats with the kid who always asks if Schulte matched?

Don't you think you would have heard by now if they did?

Ya'll, gimme, gimme, more, gimme, gimme, more....BONUS.

I get bonus all the time, because I'm a pop star with a number one record, y'all.

Kramer Levin? Is this a NYC firm? Never heard of it. Must be one of those litigation boutiques.

Does anyone know if any Baltimore firms have matched yet? How about Hogan, or Gallagher? Anybody know?

Baltimore firms, Piper included, will NOT match. The likely scenario (if I had to guess) is that the NY offices will likely match the Kaye Scholer method. Only Hogan pays its Baltimore associates the same as DC.

Just a guess.

To 2:46:

Good points all, but I get the impression from the comments in recent weeks that a lot of law students have no idea which firms have hours requirements and which don't.

I am not sure if Piper has told associates the bonus levels this year (no longer there), but I got approx $55K as a 2nd yr in Baltimore last year (bonus was partly hours based and I billed NY hours). Piper may give associates billing hours comparable to NY associates a NY-level bonus (and then other Baltimore firms, including Hogan) would need to decide whether to compete.

The claim about Latham being stingy and bottom-line driven is so true. Yes, you get no bonus whatsoever -- not even $1 -- if you fall below the billing requirement even by 1 hour (internally, it's known as "pace"). As to the retort that 3 weeks of paid vacation (as far as I know, Latham is the only major firm that does this) doesn't matter because anyone who bills enough billable time can take more than 3 weeks off. This isn't quite true. For one thing, if the firm wants an excuse to get rid of an associate (not because he/she didn't have enough billable time), it will point out at the review that the associate did something improper by taking more than 3 weeks off. Also, if an associate leaves a firm without using all of his/her vacation time, he/she typically gets money for that unused portion of the paid vacation (all NY firms I know do this). Latham does that, too. But since Latham only gives 3 weeks of paid vacation, the associate will get less money. This is not a pocket change if the associate leaving is relatively senior because his/her base salary is quite high.

Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?
Chicago-based firms?

Chicago list of shame

1 Kirkland & Ellis LLP (591 Chicago attorneys)
2 Sidley Austin LLP (560 Chicago attorneys)
3 Mayer Brown LLP (488 Chicago attorneys)
4 Winston & Strawn LLP (411 Chicago attorneys)
5 Jenner & Block LLP (386 Chicago attorneys)

The big Chicago shops will match in their NY offices (Sidley, Mayer Brown, etc.). Kirkland's bonuses, unchanged, will still beat the new "bonus + special" (even in Chicago!).

In Chicago offices, bonuses will be the same as last year (which, given the salary raises, credit crunch, and general economic downturn, is just fine with me). Chi salaries should be the same as NY, but NY bonuses should be higher (but not twice as high).

Who cares about firms like this?? This is not a real firm that anyone working at a Vault Top 5 firm cares about at all.

10:02 = ChiPartner (No self respecting ChiAssociate would say that.)

Tell me about it. What really gets under my skin is any coverage of V4 or V5 firms.

Who cares about the vault? Easily the stupidest "rankings" around. League tables and financials, that's what matters. Law students are a little dumb to be looking at the vault rankings.

Why does someone keep putting WEMED on the list of shame? Their base salary is like $50k.

Locally SRZ and Proskauer are the big question marks, followed by non-NY firms like GDC, LW, Akin, OMM, Wilmer Hale, etc.

10:12 -

when your firm is also at the top of the League tables, you still don't care about these no-name firms.

We in Philly are still at $145K with a token bonus. When will there be relief for us? Lat, show us some brotherly love and help reveal our plight to the legal world.

Vault is somewhat useful as a general guide, but has a number of systematic flaws and biasses.

MTO #47? Those kids are like all former Supreme Court clerks.

Vault is somewhat useful as a general guide, but has a number of systematic flaws and biasses.

MTO #47? Those kids are like all former Supreme Court clerks.

"Who cares about firms like this?? This is not a real firm that anyone working at a Vault Top 5 firm cares about at all."

That has to be the most idiotic comment on this site in a while. Are you assuming that ATL is meant only for attorneys at V5 firms? Who the f*ck cares what "anyone working at a Vault Top 5 firm" prefers to read on ATL?

What makes you think that supreme court clerks make good lawyers? Especially if they're not litigators? Being good at law school, and getting a supreme court clerkship, doesn't necessarily translate into a good lawyer. Plus, they could be really bitter. I wonder how many of them really wanted to teach and now are stuck working for a living.

Dear 12:17,

This is to inform you that your post was idiotic. I know who you are.

You couldn't get a job clerking for Judge Halverson. Nor would I hire you to clean my car, and we all know that I'm not too picky...

Sincerely,
Loyola 2L

10:06, 10:09:
Tell me about it. What really gets under my skin is any coverage of V2 through V5 firms. Where's the all-Wachtell blog?

Why is there any coverage of these little servant firms (law firms) anyway? They don't make real money.

Why aren't the non-NYC based firms raising? Like Latham, Covington, Wilmer, Sidley, Arnold & Porter, etc?

"Why aren't the non-NYC based firms raising? Like Latham, Covington, Wilmer, Sidley, Arnold & Porter, etc?"

They will all cave in...

Defenders of minimum hours requirements:

I work at a NYC sweatshop and probably more than half the people won't hit 2000 hours or whatever minimums you people think are no big deal.

Fact is minimums just serve to screw associates--especially like now when the work slowdown is not your fault.

1:39 - If they were going to cave, they'd have done it by now. The recruiting season is almost over. The firms that haven't caved are just plain cheap.

And I agree with 1:49 about the billable hours minimums. Associates always get screwed - for example, what if a partner makes an associate help write a treatise for hundreds of hours? That's not billable.

It is Saturday.
I am at the office.
I have been all day.
My firm hasn't match yet.
I should go home.

it's Britney, bitch!

Just want to second (or third or fourth or whatever) the notion that, from an associate's point of view, an hours based bonus is hugely inferior to a lockstep bonus system. I work for a V5 firm in debt capital markets and there is no way I'm going to hit 2150 this year since we've been pretty slow (I'm billing approx 20 hrs/week) since the August credit crunch kicked in. This isn't my fault, obviously. But I'm getting paid anyway. At firms that use an hours based system, associates get screwed when the market slows down, no matter how hard they worked in the first half of the year. And no, it is not really physically possible to make all of your hours in 6-8 months. You need sustained work over the course of the year.

What's my name, "nona"?

People in philly or anywhere else with a lower cost of living than NY should stop bitching... your 145 already goes a lot further than our 160 in NY.

For the love of God: can someone please explain how it is possible for iPod earphones to get so damn tangled up after like 30 secs in your pocket?! It defies physics!!!!

3:49 -- When are you going to realize that cost of living is not a valid argument?

Come on Lat - give us some Philly love!!!

4:16, of course COL is a valid argument. To say otherwise shows a lack of understanding of the economics of salaries.

COL will become a valid argument when profits per equity partner are determined and distributed based on COL. Otherwise, it's a red herring.

My teacher fiancee says you all should all shut the hell up, because she goes in all the time on saturdays...

..she says to get over yourselves, everybody works hard. you are all a bunch of whiners.

At least you make four times what she does!

Dear 4:13 -

Your iPod earphones are designed to prevent such tangling. Look at the where the cord splits from a single cord to two. There you will find a sliding piece of plastic. Pull that sliding piece toward the ear buds. Viola!
No tangling. Now call my firm's partners and tell them to announce already.

Lazy or not, I'm pulling in $250k this year for billing 1800 hours (unless we get busy again of course). Just FYI, last year I billed 2300 and didn't complain. But for all you law students out there - billing more than 40 hours per week really affects your life. The only dbags who think it is "lazy" to point this fact out aren't actually working for law firms - they are naive law students who have never been in the workforce before.

4:41 - you're wrong. My firm already pays NY partners an extra amount of money (which is more than my salary) to account for the COL difference in NY. Yet they still haven't matched bonuses for associates. . .

Piper pays NY associates in a NY way (i.e., one class one bonus). Associates in other offices are bonused based on hours, etc.

4:42, does your hot teacher fiancee work year round? What's that, she gets months worth of vacation every year around the holidays and over the summer?

Then she can shove it, thanks.

This is the real Britney, ya'll. Accept no imposters.

And my bonus this year is (ya'll ready for this?): $11111111,000000000,00000000.

Take that, ya'll!

If I'm making only four times as much as a teacher, I'll shoot myself.

Uh oh. Don't look now, Debra LaFave says your fiancee is shacking up with a 14 year old on those working Saturdays.

Latham will not match until mid to late January per custom as its exceedingly slow and cumbersome Associates Committee process needs time to sort itself out. Unlike other firms, there is no one or small group of partners who can press the magic button to make things happen. At best, there will be an announcement in the next month or so acknowledging the recent bonus announcements and some generic statement about the firm evaluating the market.

Latham needs to hurry up so Wilmer can follow suit.

Congratulations to Pamela, Charlotte, Maria, Shari, Kerri, Christine, Susan, Bonnie, Jennifer and Elise! These 10 women managed to become partner in a firm counting 117 partners...
"Bringing the Diversity of the Outside World Inside Kramer Levin" according to their website. I guess they are true to their words.

Congratulations to Pamela, Charlotte, Maria, Shari, Kerri, Christine, Susan, Bonnie, Jennifer and Elise! These 10 women managed to become partner in a firm counting 117 partners...
"Bringing the Diversity of the Outside World Inside Kramer Levin" according to their website. I guess they are true to their words.

Wow, not even 10% - that's pretty sad. And I thought my firm was bad with 20%.

Stop nagging about Latham. They won't even attempt to match until the very end, and even then, they won't match in the full sense of the word. Don't you remember what they did/fail to do in response to the most recent salary increase?

Why all the Latham haters? Latham historically pays at or above market bonuses and this year will be no different. The date on which a firm announces has nothing to do w/ its prestige...it has to do w/ the way the firm is managed and Latham has been labeled by some as the best-managed firm in the country. The whole Lockstep vs. hours-based is sort of a ridiculous notion. You can do 1950 in your sleep and most firms that have "no minimum" would push you out the door (either directly or indirectly) in a heartbeat if you were even close to dipping below 2000.

To 4:51: I never knew what that slidey thing was for!!! Thanks. I actually learned something useful from ATL on a weekend! My life has immeasurably improved.

When I was an associate at Latham's NY office, the budget for a summer associate lunch was something like $40, whereas the budget at other top tier NY firms was something like $60-65. This in and of itself may be trivial but it does something about Latham. As for the above comment about how one can do 1950 in "your sleep," he/she presumably assumes that this is possible at Latham. That's true for the most part. But one of the many problems with Latham's NY office -- at least at the time I was there as a litigation associate -- is that its assigning system is dysfunctional, to put it charitably, such that unless the dept. was extremely busy all around, it was possible (and this did happen to a number of associates) for an associate not to have sufficient amount of work to meet the bonus requirement. Why? The work was not being distributed relatively evenly in part because of the screwed assigning system and blatant favoritism.

.....and PHJW won't do anything until Latham does something.

most boring blog i have ever read. Yes I am going to allocate 30 minutes of my day for reading about a raise in X firm. This is a "tabloid" and the picture of the document discussing the raise is "papparazi".

Now that Kramer "matched" even though there is an hours requirement, it is time for the remaining firms to match!

81
Howrey LLP
5.002
80
Washington, DC
82
Reed Smith LLP
4.967
82
Pittsburgh, PA
83
Crowell & Moring LLP 4.951
79
Washington, DC
84
McGuireWoods LLP 4.858
86
Richmond, VA
85
Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP 4.833
85
New York, NY
86
Arent Fox PLLC 4.813
88
Washington, DC
87
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP 4.801
84
Chicago, IL
88
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P 4.801
89
Washington, DC
89
Dorsey & Whitney LLP 4.768
83
Minneapolis, MN
90
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP 4.717
91
New York, NY
91
Baker & Hostetler 4.660
90
Cleveland, OH
92
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
4.658
97
New York, NY
93
Venable LLP 4.636
96
Washington, DC
94
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP 4.599
87
Cleveland, OH
95
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
4.597
98
New York, NY
96
Dickstein Shapiro LLP
4.595
95
Washington, DC
97
Fenwick & West LLP
4.545
94
Mountain View, CA
98
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
4.538
93
Atlanta, GA
99
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC 4.496
92
Boston, MA
100
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP 4.459
BofR
Los Angeles, CA

LAST

first

Reed Smith won't match. Why would they? They have never paid market bonuses in the past, so why start now? I work at Reed Smith and really love the place. I hope they don't match, because there is NO such thing as a free lunch! What other new york firm pays 160K to first years and only expects them to bill 1900 hours!!!

Firm like Reed Smith won't match because they can't. Look at their PPP.

What about Kasowitz Benson? They are poaching attorneys from big firms left and right. If they don't match, I bet there's a huge exodus. Having spoken to a friend who works there, the natives are getting restless.

with the addition of RB in Hong Kong, Reed Smith's PPP should break 1 million this year (they have come a long way baby). I think they can afford to show some love!

Outside of the Financial services group in NY, senior associates at Reed Smith will not get lockstep advances or a market bonus. I once mentioned to RS associates, that my crappy firm paid lockstep. They all looked like someone had run over their dog.

Yeah, Latham is recognized as very well run. In case you haven't noticed, those $60 summer lunches really aren't that fun for anyone involved and they are kind of a waste of money. So I don't mind them trying to stop the bleeding with $40 lunches.

And for people who say they can do 1950 in their sleep, well that is probably because they are a fraud and they just write down numbers that have no bearing on actual delivered value to the client. 1950 real billable hours (i.e., each hour is an hour in which your entire concentration was focused on your client's issues) is not a trivial amount of time. It doesn't mean you have to pull all-nighters and work through the weekend, but it does mean plenty of late nights in the office.
Latham will do an hours based "match", which will be similar to what they already do about bonuses. A few people will do over market, but the average associate will do a little below market. That's just the way they run things. But they won't ignore this bonus like it didn't happen.

first

10:27 --that said, Reed Smith NY associates get 90% of the total compensation (salary + bonus) of other Biglaw associates (which have matched), for only 75% of the hours requirement. Sounds like a good deal to me and a trade off I accept.

75% why do people keep perpetuating that myth that all associates in the V5 bill 2400 hours a year.

STB average billables were something like 2050 for associates and there is lockstep.

I have a friend at Cahill that has been there for five years and has yet to break 2000.

To the associates getting 90% at R.S. keep drinking the koolaid.

One of the firms I am still considering is Kramer. I have read the memo and not sure where the 2150 billable hours part comes from. Is that from someone who works there? Kramer submitted average billable hours to NALP for 2006 of 1810. Hard to reconcile this number with the 2150 mentioned. I would appreciate someone in the "know" letting me know what really is required at Kramer to reach the billable hours threshold.

nobody's pointed out yet that most firms with a billables hours requirement like Kramer don't really mean "hard" billables. the number usually includes lots of things like pro bono, firm citizenship stuff like recruiting, teaching cle and writing articles. i agree that it's hard to reach these numbers even in a V5 firm but it all depends on what the firm is counting.

8:04: Who? Ha.

where does one reliable "avg billables" info- particularly with regard to sidley, phjw and proskauer?

At sidley, the 2000 billable requirement is for "hard" billable, although it does include pro bono.

I'm not sure where you can get reliable average billable info. The trouble with NALP is that it includes in the average billables of part-time attorneys, so that brings the number down a bit.

12:12 nailed it.

8:37 - see 9:40's comment re: "hard billables." 1810 is the strict billable number, most likely. As for the 2150, is not in the memo, was last year's "special" threshold

I feel like being jealous today. Has anyone heard of the Wachtell numbers this year?

You know what would be really funny? If someone did a parody of Samuel L. Jackson in Snakes on a Plane after one of these bonus posts.

10:35---They had a special bonus last year? As to the 2150 is that rumor or a confirmed number?

10:41 How would that work exactly? Was Jackson an attorney?

stop the bleeding by cutting $20 pp on lunches? they're budgeting for a law firm, not a boy scout troop. what are their revenues, something like $700mm? those summer cutbacks are going to make a HUGE difference.

In the past, associates get a half bonus at 1800 hours, 2/3 bonus at 1900 hours and a full bonus at 2000 hours. Sildey is a great place to work and haven't had a problem making my hours in my 4 years here.

an undecided 2L--
The 2150 number from last year was what was required the get the market bonus (at 2000 the bonus was about 30% below market, IIRC). Kramer includes hours from just about every category you can imagine for bonus purposes (business development, recruiting, all pro bono hours, partner speeches and articles, etc.). In general, they are fairly liberal with the hours requirement and do not stiff people who are close (i.e., it is pretty common knowledge that they will round people up 50 hours). Also, the rumor around the office is that they will be lowering the threshold to 2000 (last year they lowered it from 2300 to 2150 for the market bonus).

KLAssociate--Thank you very much--I am leaning towards Kramer but really interested in quality of life issues. What's your feeling about working there? Are most associates happy there?

I am a lateral and absolutely love it here. The quality of the work is excellent. The partners give associates as much responsibility as they can handle. The people (from partners to associates to support staff) are all very nice. And, the partners completely respect the fact that you have a life outside work, which was not at all true at my last firm. So far I have gotten a much better experience here than I did at my previous firm, which is one of the top AmLaw/Vault firms.

There is no way Latham will do anything until other LA-based firms, namely, Gibson and O'Melveny, do something in response to these bonuses. Yes, yes, don't tell me that it is not correct to consider Latham LA-based. Notwithstanding that it claims to be a "global" firm and its' NY office actually has more lawyers than other offices, it is hardly a market-leader when it comes to compensation and perks.

without a lot of padding, the majority of biglaw associates wouldn't come close to billable hour quotas. the more efficient and honest associates and the ones who do pro bono are punished. and even when hours aren' t padded, there isn't necessarily hard work going on. deal lawyers making the same revisions on the same documents for the eighteenth time while they eat take out from Shun Lee know this.

an undecided 2L-
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I have to echo Another KL Associate's comments. I lateralled over from a V10 shop and this is an outstanding place to work. The hours are somewhat better, but the real key is that the partners are more laid back and recognize that you have a life outside the office. There is very little of that typical Biglaw partner pretentiousness. I am very happy here.