Associate Bonuses at Big Law Firms May Drop Up to 75 Percent
A law firm consultant is telling law firms to cut back on bonuses this year—advice that several firms already appear to be heeding.
Associates who got year-end and special bonuses last year totaling $115,000 may see only about one-fourth of that amount this year, Bloomberg reports. Two law firms have already announced lower year-end associate bonuses this year topping out at around $30,000, with no mention of any special bonus.
“Expect other firms to follow suit,” Andrew Johnman, head of a unit at Barclays that lends to law firms, told the publication.
Last year, some bonuses amounted to 22 percent of total pay for new associates, the story says.
At Cravath, Swaine & Moore, total bonuses ranged from $45,000 to $110,000 last year. This year the firm is paying year-end bonuses of $17,500 to $30,000, as much as a 73 percent drop, the story says. Last year Simpson Thacher & Bartlett paid as much as $115,000 in total bonuses, but the maximum amount for year-end bonuses this year is $32,500, a 72 percent drop.
Dan DiPietro, head of client relations for the law firm group at Citi Private Bank in New York, told Bloomberg that big bonuses don’t make economic sense. “My strong advice to firms is to roll back bonuses,” he said.
