If your firm was not in FIRST round to announce bonuses you are getting screwed.

We need LIST OF SHAMe

First among not-so-equals

Cannot believe my first post was deleted.

Clearly there's at least one azn guy who doesn't share my enthusiasm.

Bonus season for NY has all but ended, but for Chicago/LA/DC firms it is just getting underway. Transperency is lacking in other markets, so we should keep sharing information!

Was Kramer's memo for NYC? That puts them under market by far. A guy in my DC branch office will make more at 2100 hours than a Kramer Levin dude at 2100. That's gotta smart. At least Kramer counts a bunch of fluff hours toward the total.

Do most firms count nonbillables toward the minimums? I mean stuff like CLE, writing articles and the like.

With all that fluff, how do you not get at least 2150 hours at Kramer Levin?

What were bonuses like for Morgan Lewis this year?

NYC to 190K!!

Marty Lipton, a bunch of Sullivan guys, and others have been making the rounds of the business news channels about how 2008 is going to be a tough year and how transactional deal volume is going to be down about 20% from last year. Meanwhile the economy ia tottering on the brink of recession. If you guys think salary increases are in the offing, after two years of increases and a huge round of bonuses in a down market, you must not have been working from 2001-2005.

No way there will be any salary increases for a few years at least. 2007's bonus will not be met for a few years. Just as 2000 compensation was not beat until 2006. 2007 comp probably will not be beat until sometime after 2010 at the earliest, when most of us will either be out of BigLaw or partners.

Any news from the IP shops yet? MoFi, Kenyon, Darby?

We're seeing the market divide very quickly here. Top firms are going to have to pay top dollar to get the superstar talent they need. We all joke about "NY to 190" but the top 10 firms are going to have to pay that to get the lawyers they need. The rest of the market will stratify very quickly, with many firms stagnating at 160. Top lawyers will go to the firms able to offer 190, and clients will pay what it takes to get the deal done right the first time.

2:07 - awesome

I think a downturn may actually make the next push more likely.....if the top firms think that the next group won't be able to follow, they may jump a bit in order to separate themselves.

The way I read the Kramer Levin memo is that if you do the following in a year as a first or second year associate you get the full bonus:
CLE and shadowing-100 hrs
Recuiting event- 10 hrs
in office recrutining 25 hrs
Pro Bono 100 hrs
Other fluff 65 hrs
Actual billable 1850 Hrs

and for 2000 hr bonus 1700 billable

Seems pretty rasobable to me

Watcher 2:07 "Top firms are going to have to pay top dollar to get the superstar " - you could make this same argument at any point between 2001 and 2005.

"clients will pay what it takes to get the deal done right the first time.'

- i see you have had little client contact and don't realize how much pressure GC's are under to cut costs. I'm not an antitrust lawyer but the demand curve for legal services is not vertical.

Only the v-10 will survive the coming storm.... It is going to get ugly fast, and a lot of us will be out of the job.

2:20 - without evidence that top law students are turning down top firms for less prestigious firms in large numbers, your prediction makes little economic sense. In fact, it may even harm the ability of top firms to attract and keep business in an economic downturn, since higher associate salaries inevitably mean higher billing rates.

A lot of you must be law students, because only law students refer to first year lawyers from HYS as "superstar talent." A more accurate statement would be to that top firms will have to pay 190 to recruit top law school graduates.

Associates who have worked for a few years already know that there is more to being happy with a firm than money. Many would (and do) trade *some* money for, among other things, better work, fewer hours, etc.

A lot of you must be law students, because only law students refer to first year lawyers (even from HYS) as "superstar talent." A more accurate statement would be to that top firms will have to pay 190 to recruit top law school graduates.

Associates who have worked for a few years already know that there is more to being happy with a firm than money. Many would (and do) trade *some* money for, among other things, better work, fewer hours, etc.

A lot of you must be law students, because only law students refer to first year lawyers (even from HYS) as "superstar talent." A more accurate statement would be that top firms will have to pay 190 to recruit top law school graduates.

Associates who have worked for a few years already know that there is more to being happy with a firm than money. Many would (and do) trade *some* money for, among other things, better work, fewer hours, better pertnership prospects, etc.

What happened with Duane Morris? Did they match?

Hey 3:14/3:15,

You must be a retarded attorney for pushing the post button more than once

Have a semi-related question about bonuses: if a bonus is going to be paid at a firm on a particular date, what is likely to happen if an associate gives two weeks notice one week before the bonus payment date? Is the bonus likely to be withheld?

A&O has done this in years past as well. Has nothing to do with salary increases but rather with internal bureaucracies.

7:28, why would you even risk something like that? Even if I heard that it was common practice at my firm to still give the bonus in that case I would still not leave until it has actually been given.

Why haven't we heard anything from Bingham?

8:03
Because I am DYING TO GET OUT OF HERE. And because the new job won't wait.

Get your bonus and give them one week notice. Don't risk your bonus. Do you think you are so irreplaceable that they need two weeks? And if you are, do you think two weeks notice is going to be enough time to meaningfully replace you? Push back on your work, try to juggle off of cases or deals and then give them the one week notice. It won't burn a bridge. Heck you can even explain it and blame it on you new job.
Firms are expecting turnover at the end of each year. It might be a shock in your case (or maybe it isn't), but it isn't like they don't deal with something similar every year. The firm will know how to handle it.

7:28

Depends on what is important to you. You could give no notice. Obviously may burn some bridges but doesn't sound like that would be a problem.

If it were me, I wouldn't give notice until I had cash in hand. Then just explain that this great opportunity came up and they need you now.

Whoever is telling people that MWE is going to fix the compensation problem will be disappointed again. Rumor says that the chairman has already decided to leave things as is. Based on his track record for double speak and empty promises, I believe MWE attorneys will not see another dime or, at best, will get some small slap in the face amount. Either you accept his system, or go ahead and find something better if you really think you can.

MWE prides itself on attracting the best and brightest and in offering Uncommon Commitment to its clients. The firm's compensation model furthers neither of these goals and, in fact, is contrary to both.

Morale is terrible and a lot of productive time is being wasted talking about the problem and job planning. It is a real shame what is happening. Although I met some nice people, I regret the time I wasted and the missed opportunities at other firms. Depressing.

11:01

True, MWE associates are all frustrated by the recent events, however, I for one hold out hope that the firm will make good on its long time practice of matching the market. If they fix this problem by making significant bonus readjustments and admit that they misjudged the market I will move on from this and focus on the piles of work in front of me. This firm, with all of its faults, is a place filled with talented and likeable people. My hope is that the firm steps up to the plate, learns from this issue and we can all get back to work.

9:49 - Harvey, stop posting on ATL and get back to running this firm into the ground.

Honestly, what lawyer who's spent even a year at MWE would refer to a "long time practice of matching the market?" MWE is a sub-market firm, with sub-market salaries, sub-market bonuses, and, in the very near future, sub-market talent. I, for one, will take my slap-in-the face bonus "adjustment" when they issue it, and turn in my notice. Thankfully, though MWE's reputation is crap, it's not so bad as to prevent me from receiving offers from better firms.

Related to the issue of bonuses...DLA still hasn't announced. But we received a great email applauding us on our efforts to make the firm a bunch of money this year. And the email closed with this paragraph:

"While we are pleased with the results for 2007, we approach 2008 with caution, given the uncertain economic outlook. We intend to be conservative in both our budgeting for 2008 and in our financial management."

I expect this does not bode well for bonuses and/or future compensation...

Any word from Paul Hastings or Proskauer on bonuses or special bonuses?