yay for happy speculation. CA to 200k!

looking good.... when are we going to hear from MWE???

But what is POWELL GOLDSTEIN doing???

I hated "first" posters first

Yes, the chart is right.

I don't spend any of my money because I'm so FIFTHY!

Did Reed Smith match?

whats the special amount?

What about Pryor Cashman NY?

further proving my point that i've been screwed.

MWE associates got revised (individualized) bonus memos today. With no firm-wide memos to review, it's difficult to say whether they treated everyone well, but I've been bumped up to within $10000 of market - so not terribly generous, but not the slap in the face so many of us were expecting.

Thank you 5:31!

5:31,

Are you in NY?

Chart is legit.

not to be greedy, but isn't Latham still the only firm in the top ten to not give out the special bonus, too? So that means these are really below market. For instance, Weil gave 2001 class a $50K special bonus in November and then a $60 K bonus this week. So that's a $60K difference.

Latham did give out special bonuses in NYC -- or at least it looks like they did. They call them "supplementary bonuses."

"New York received a supplementary bonus in addition to these numbers."

Re: Job of the week listing:

I have a very specialized practice. I only represent one client.

Autoadmit is a TTT site populated solely by moronic and egomaniacal trolls who lack any connection to reality and exist wholly in a self-created sphere of importance.

I pwned 7:31's sister's sphincter last night.

I wish you'd pwn my sphincter 7:39. I am a guy tho.

Hey, John Quinn. This is how real first tier firms treat their associates. No nonsense. No hype. No hide the ball. No defensive emails. Just thanks for your help. Here's your share of the wealth. And then real associates post about how happy they are.

Here here 8:10

Looks like Latham's mean/median is below the Quinn Emanuel "regular+special" bonus, but the "top" numbers are a fair bit higher.

Latham's bonuses are still much lower than Kirkland's!

Get back to turning those first day motions and tell your recruiters to quit calling every bankruptcy associate in town with promises of non-equity partnership.

While the process for getting there wasn't the smoothest (obviously an understatement), MWE seriously stepped up to the plate with its "economic stimulus package" and should be commended: revised bonuses were at market in Boston.

This is pretty good, but not Jones Day DC bonus good.

Paul Hastings Atlanta >>>>> Any other place in the country

The Latham numbers do not include associates who did not bill 1900, so the real means and medians are actually lower, particularly for the more junior classes.

10:06 is correct. Many people got no bonus whatsoever.

So much for "one-firm firm". Although Latham DC billed far higher than Latham NY, DC associates still got 25-350K less than what a NY assoc at "market" would make, for less hours.

I billed 2660 hours. Oh snap!

Mofo is going to announce bonuses next week. They usually don't hold any meetings or issue memos. This year could be different since they were one of the few firms to roll 1950 bonuses into the associate base pay raises. This could change though because revenues were way up in 2007. The firm is doing really well right now so I think they will probably share the wealth with the associates.

All you crybabies at other CA firms - shut up about your weak bonuses. If you think your firm is cheap, go somewhere else. Obviously they are sending you a message if they give you nothing while your peers are getting between 30K to 70K for the exact same work.

LW accepts as a matter of fact that all things being equal, it will pay a higher bonus to NYC and non-U.S. associates. So, a 1900 biller in NYC with the same adjective as a 1900 biller in LA will make more $. The same is true at any other hour level. The way to make it up in a non-NYC non-foreign office is to bill more hours. It is what it is. Wish we were a "one firm firm" like Skadden and Kirkland and other NY lockstep firms with branches outside NY, but we aren't.

Why didn't Lat post the memo here himself? Linking to Auto Admit is in poor taste. What respectable website posts a link that leads to a page where the "n" word figures prominently?!

Yeah Lat, where's the Jones Day DC post? Its a HUGE issue. The only reason you don't write about it is because they don't issue a memo saying 'no bonuses.' Maybe I will create one and email it you.

When OMM imposed a 1950 hours cut-off for the special bonus, the posters on this blog were up in arms.

Where are the comments from LW associates who got no bonuses? Are you all just licking your wounds and polishing your resumes?

1:35

Because they knew they weren't getting a bonus if they didn't hit 1900. LW doesn't set a cut-off after the year like some other firms and leave everyone guessing. The policy is clear as can be from the start and any associate can access a report at any time showing hours, hours to go for the year, and % of a 1900 hr pace both for the month and YTD.

If associates weren't busy enough to hit 1900 through no fault of their own, that is unfortunate and should be addressed (but keep in mind LW gives unlimited pro bono). I'm not saying LW is perfect. But I don't think you can attack LW's transparency. Nobody was aiming at a moving target.

5:31: i'm also an MWE associate, and my bonus correction put me above market in DC (where I am)

5:31 and 2:31:

I am an MWE associate in NYC. My initial bonus was way below-market, but my bonus correction put me at NYC market (my total MWE bonus = what associates at NYC firms got total for regular bonus + special bonus). I am very happy with the correction and with MWE's commitment to paying market bonuses to hard-working associates. My faith in the firm, which was wavering, has been restored.

This MWE story has not run its course yet. Although some MWE lawyers got a good adjustment, many others didn't. The criteria was billable hours, and not necessarily talent or commitment. Anyone who says that compensation is at or above market at MWE needs to explain why people are still huddled behind closed doors or left the office red-eyed or grumbling. If you got more, then consider yourself lucky and show some respect for the folks that feel burned.

Some associates, particularly the junior ones who did not make hours, should have sought work outside their desired practice areas in order to make hours. If they didn't want to be team players to help out other departments that were busy and if they couldn't make their 1900, they have no one to blame but themselves for not getting a bonus. In fact, they should be happy that they were paid as much as they were for the hours billed.

12:26am

Where are you getting your info about what mofo might do with bonuses?

3:11, are you really so sure that there was enough work to go around for everyone to make their hours?

1:35: The earlier poster was right. Anyone at LW who did not make their hours knew way ahead of time that they would not receive a bonus. I assume they're too busy polishing their resumes and looking for new work in a tough market to come complain on ATL.

829 im not sure you can compare quinn and latham. 2099 at quinn got you 25,000 (7,500 special + 17,500 half regular bonus) and a low hours talking to. 2099 at latham got you 35,000+ (+=bump for being over 1900) and a pat on the back. not only that, but latham nyc got supplemental bonuses in addition the the figures announced for everyone else.

Can any Latham people comment on:

1) What the hours bumps were (i.e. $35,000 + ?bump? for ?additional hours?); and

2) What the New York supplemental bonuses were?

Agreed, 3:11. They also could have done pro bono work, which is always readily available and a good thing to do in any case.

11:30 am, Kirkland is neither a "NY" firm, nor a "lockstep firm," though it does have branches outside NY, in addition to its main office, which is in Chicago.

3:11, Just to be clear, is it your view that an associate who billed 1850, contributed to the firm on things like recruiting, and got excellent reviews should not get a bonus but an associate that billed 1950, is a mediocre attorney and does not help with things like recruiting should?

I don't work at Latham, so I do not have all the facts. As someone who has been practicing at BigLaw for 10 years, I don't want associate number 2 to get a bonus. I don't want that associate at my firm. I will take an excellent associate any day and think that firms make a mistake when they don't do things to keep those associates happy.

At my firm, mediocre attorneys got bonuses because they made their hours. But this is f%^#ed up, at least for the crappy associates at my firm, because they made their hours by being inefficient, never getting the job done right the first time, and basically racking up time producing useless work-product. A few were bad enough to be told to find another job even though they got a bonus. Moreover, they sucked away work from good associates. If associate number 2 above was not at the firm, then all their work could have gone to the associates that deserved to be kept busy and receive a bonus.

This scenario is a morale buster because everyone knows who is good and who is not, just like everyone knows who got what bonus. Bonuses send a message. When they are handed out to people that don't deserve them, it pisses people off. When they aren't handed out to people who are held in high regard, the system sends the wrong message and people just get hurt and angry.

I don't think compensation should be so black and white, especially for associates that are in their 1st and 2nd years and really can't do much to control what happens with their work load. Don't get me wrong, people need to work hard for the money they earn and my associate of choice is an excellent attorney that will bill 2000-2100. But that does not mean that I would freeze out a great attorney on bonuses just because they missed the billable target.

so what happens to all the people who don't make their hours and get bonuses at LW? are they expected to leave within 6 months, or can they just stay on indefinitely?

You and 3:11 already sound like law firm managing partners. Bureaucratic, uninspired and dick-ish. Wait until next year when the economy is in the crapper and see what you think when you miss your hours.

Amen 5:28. The truth is that once the market went south, plenty of decent people were (and still are) scrambling for work, even pro bono, and coming up short.

MWE 3:03 pm--

From what I have gathered from associates in our NYC, DC, Boston and Chicago offices, initial and adjusted bonuses were not correlated only to "billable hours". While I suspect that your dissatisfaction comes from he fact that you failed to satisfy your 2,000 billable hour expectation, those of us who did meet this minimum threshold and who received average to stellar reviews were rewarded at or above the relevant the market, respectively.

I exceeded 2,000 hours. It is obvious that you did not. Had you billed 2,000 hours or more, and if the quality of your work in 2007 was satisfactory or better, Friday would have been as happy a day for you as it was for those of us who carry your slack.

Disagree with 3:03 about quality of MWE bonuses. Mood was very good on Friday after supp bonus memos were posted--at least in Chicago. Adding supp bonus to prior bonus, associates felt that MWE paid at market or even above market bonuses in some instances (the non-NY market that is). Bonuses paid in Dec. 07 were definitely below market but general sentiment is that the partners stepped up to the plate and made bonuses comparable to those paid at peer firms.

All due respect, $$$$ MWE $$$$, I got money on Friday so you were not carrying my slack.

To anyone at MWE,

Can you please provide some clarity regarding total bonus amounts to associates in your Chicago office?

$$$$ MWE $$$$, what would you have the firm do with all the slackers you carried?

5:45,

I appreciate the generalities, but would appreciate hard numbers regarding Chicago associates, especially since the "market" in Chicago has not really been determined yet. Were the bonuses substantially more than last year?

Katten, there is nothing in writing due to this board. Suspect that those numbers will trickle out over the next few days, but my vague understanding in Chicago is NYC less special if you hit 2000. I think they were more than last year.

At LW, all pro bono counts one for one toward your billable cap. If you didn't make 1900, it's your own damn fault.

"Just to be clear, is it your view that an associate who billed 1850, contributed to the firm on things like recruiting, and got excellent reviews should not get a bonus but an associate that billed 1950, is a mediocre attorney and does not help with things like recruiting should?"

Fellow Biglaw Partner:

Why would an 1,850 biller help with recruiting if he can't first satisfy the firm's minimum billable hour expectation? Associates are hired to perform billable work, not to babysit summer associates at happy hours or to attend "recruiting lunches" on the firm's dime.

When I began practicing at Biglaw DC a few more than 10 years ago, I did so with the expectation that I would bill a certain amount of hours--not because I expected a $50,000-60,000 bonus (heck, that's not much more than my starting base salary was), but because I was getting paid substantially more money in base salary than any 25-year old newly-minted practitioner was worth.

LW, Kirkland, MWE, etc. each expects that its associates bill a certain amount of hours. With 1st year associates at these firms making 160k base, I have no sympathy whatsoever for associates who are "sad" because they fail to bill enough to justify their keep. A bonus is a reward for exceeding expectations (from a qualitative and quantitative perspective). So while I agree with you that "Associate 2" (1,950 biller, mediocre work, "bad firm citizen") should not receive a bonus, I disagree with you that "Associate 1" (1,850 biller, great work, and plays with summers) is deserving of an extra penny beyond his $160,000 base salary.

Sincerely,
Partner from a different perspective

Associates who bill 1,850 and recruit other to do the same to 190k!

I think I know who 6:09 is.

Partner, you make a good point, but I still say that the better system is one that has some flexibility to address the odd circumstance.

My firm puts a lot of pressure on associates to recruit because the firm thinks that is how you attract talent. What is the Stanford associate supposed to say when partner A calls them and begs that they take a trip to Palo Alto or come to a lunch? The same is true with the endless partner requests to help with client pitches, write articles, attend conferences, serve as a mentor (a.k.a. babysit a summer), etc. The associate can't say no. If your view is correct, I think it translates to everyone saying "no more citizenship stuff because it does not pay." Is that really what firms want to happen? I sure don't want those tasks and am glad for the junior associates that save me from that misery.

I guess the real answer for now is that everyone now knows you need to hit your target and you better figure out how to do that before you agree to recruit, write an article, draft a speech for a partner, attend a conference, visit a client or do anything else that can't be charged to a billable account. But when I read this moral to the story, it just sounds wrong to me.

Why is it that when other firms have the exact same requirements everybody here bashes them, but latham gets praise? This is the EXACT same system all the ttt firms used. Latham= second tier.

5:19 - at Latham, the mediocre attorney who billed 1950 will get a bonus but the bonus is affected by one's adjective. Mediocre attorney = mediocre adjective = crap bonus. The attorney who billed 1850 and received excellent reviews won't get a bonus. I'm not saying that's how it should be - I'm saying that's how it works, and EVERY Latham associate knows from day 1 that this is the system. As for whether there was enough work to go around, in my office the answer was certainly yes. However, plenty of juniors were unwilling to step outside their preferred practice area (juniors are unassigned here), which meant that lots of juniors ended up at 2300+ while others were around 1700. If the ones who billed 1700 weren't willing to help shoulder the load of those who had to bill 2300+, then it's just too bad that they didn't get a bonus.

If it is true that there was work and that the associates that failed to hit the target were not assigned to a group and could take any assignment available at the firm, but elected to go home rather than take the assignment, then I see the point you are trying to make. They were paid in free time.

5:19

The other post on ATL about Latham said that 20-40% of each class did not receive a bonus. I find it a bit incredible that such a large proportion of associates just chose to go home and slack off rather than meet the target.

This should put OMM's poor performance in stark relief - LW has a banner year and is handing out generous checks while OMM withholds bonus money and doesn't even meet market when it does. There are all kinds of under-performing partners getting lots of guaranteed money and not bringing in clients. That's the story driving the past stories. After a spate of partner defections over this past year (to K&E, Mofo, etc.), this shouldn't help the efforts to stave off further poaching. That big sucking sound you hear is OMM.

how do all the critics think this is the same system as the firms everybody else bashes? this is clearly a much better system. hit your 1900 and you get a big bonus. go higher and you get more. NY gets another bump to presumably match the Cravath bonus. Sounds good to me.

and 1900 ain't that high in the first place.

"how do all the critics think this is the same system as the firms everybody else bashes? this is clearly a much better system. hit your 1900 and you get a big bonus. go higher and you get more. NY gets another bump to presumably match the Cravath bonus. Sounds good to me."

Exactly the same as CWTTTT.

9:19PM -- Don't hate!

if you cannot hit 1900 you are self-pwn3d

Katten -

What are your numbers?

10:31 -- Just out of curiosity, what are you basing your assumption that OMM "doesn't even meet market" on? I know several people who work at OMM NY. All of them got base plus "special." In other words, they got "market."

MWE,

We are suppposed to know our bonuses by January 30 or 31.

Most Chicago based firms announce bonuses late January or early February.

10:31, there's life outside of NYC. Outside of NYC, OMM gave shitty boni.

DLA should announce this week.

A good time to be at LW in the Bay Area. These bonus payouts will absolutely destroy the measily offerings of the home base firms like Heller, Cooley, Wilson Sonsini, Fenwick, DLA/Gray Cary, and MoFo.

I'll bet that LW's median/mean payouts for 2003 will be better then the top payout for class of 2001 at the other Bay Area firms.

LW is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest, and I'll bet all the other bay area firms use a similar 1900 eligibility criteria.

Only Orrick may come close to matching.

Howard Stern to TWO MILLION TURKISH LIRA!

"Exactly the same as CWTTTT."

Oh yeah. Exactly the same. Except that CWT has a 2000 hour minimum and a 100 hour cap on pro bono. Exactly the same. EXACTLY.

OMM got served!!!! I like how they said they're confident that their competitors would not give higher bonuses, LW blew them away

Can anyone post a grid or memo that shows what the Latham's bonuses in NYC were? There are a couple of cryptic comment about supplements in NYC, but no numbers or confirmation (just assumption that they matched). But everything I've seen puts Latham below market in NYC.

"Most Chicago based firms announce bonuses late January or early February."

**Seyfarth Shaw has always been late-Feb -- slackers!

"Oh yeah. Exactly the same. Except that CWT has a 2000 hour minimum and a 100 hour cap on pro bono. Exactly the same. EXACTLY."

Even if this were exactly correct (which it isnt), latham would still be almost exactly the same as cwttt and other second tier firms.

I am absolutely dripping with goat meat.

NY bonus for full-time associates with hours >= 1900 (# above or below "market" range, in 5K increments)

class, median, average, top
1999, 125000, 124444, 132500
(7 above)

2000, 126250, 126625, 135000
(9 above)

2001, 112,500, 106397, 127500
(8 above and 1 below @ 80-85K)

2002, 97500, 100714, 110000
(3 above)

2003, 85000, 85455, 92500
(7 above)

2004, 70000, 68750, 77500
(11 above)

2005, 56250, 56080, 62500
(5 above, 2 below: 1 @ 40-45k, 1 @ 45-50k)

2006, 45000, 46190, 57500
(6 above, 2 below @ 35-40k)

What about Latham's bonuses in Chicago?

The goat juice is positively running down my leg and pooling between my toes.

This is gay. Give us a story about salary increases.

Is DLA Piper a good firm?

DLA Piper is a good firm, and the powers at the firm want it to be considered a top firm. Their decisions on associate compensation and bonuses will go a long way toward determining whether that goal will be met.

Hopefully they won't worry about PPP at the expense of their ability to recruit. Now is an important time in developing DLA's reputation because as a newly merged firm, it is still relatively unknown.

Anybody seen numbers for Latham DC?

When are we going to hear about Orrick???