Quinn Emanuel to Pay Associate Bonuses of Up to $82K, As Boies Schiller Tops Out at Over $200K
Updated: Associates at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan may be tethered to their smart phones. But the firm is showing them the money, recognizing their work with year-end bonuses of as much as double what some top New York law firms are paying.
They range from about $8,500 to $82,500, according Legal Week.
Above the Law also has the story.
Even bigger bonuses, however, are reportedly being paid by Boies Schiller & Flexner. They top out at over $200,000 for a few associates and average $75,000 for those who have been with the firm over a year.
Market leader Cravath Swaine & Moore, by contrast, is reportedly paying bonuses of between $7,500 and $32,500, a scale which has been matched by a number of other BigLaw firms. However, some have announced more substantial bonuses in the same range as Quinn Emanuel’s, as an earlier ABAJournal.com post details.
An earlier apparent high water mark may have been set by Susman Godfrey, which is rewarding associates with as much as $100,000. Like Quinn Emanuel and Cahill Gordon & Reindel, which earlier announced bonuses of up to $75,000, the firm is known for its commercial litigation work.
The Quinn bonus payments are being split, with roughly two-thirds to be paid this month and the final third to be paid in June 2011, for associates who met a minimum 2000 billable hours target (and, in June 2011, those who are on track to do so next year as well).
“I want to emphasize that the June bonus will not impact anyone’s 2011 year-end bonus,” says partner Richard Schirtzer, who heads the firm’s complex litigation department, in a memo announcing the extra moolah associates can expect. “Rather we elected to pay bonuses that are essentially 150% of the bonus standard announced by many other firms, but to pay a portion of it in June.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com (2009): “Check E-Mail Hourly, Quinn Partner Says, Unless in Court, in Tunnel or Asleep”
Above the Law (2009): “Associate Bonus Watch: Quinn Emanuel (Plus an analysis of their new partners)”
Above the Law: “Tempering the Excitement on the Sidley Bonuses”
Updated on Dec. 22 to include information about Boies Schiller bonuses.
