Lawyer Pay
Cravath Bonuses Signal Lackluster Year for M&A Work, WSJ Says
While they are more than some ordinary workers make annually, the year-end bonuses for associates just announced by Cravath Swaine & Moore show that mergers and acquisition work isn’t booming, according to the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
The bonuses, which will range from $7,500 to $37,500 when they are paid out Dec. 9, are much the same as what the top New York law firm paid not only last year but in a number of recent years, the newspaper points out.
“This year has steadily gone downhill for a lot of firms,” says legal consultant Peter Zeughauser, who describes M&A work as considerably reduced in the latter half of 2011. “Frankly, it’s gotten worse each quarter.”
