Biglaw Firm Busts Out Special Bonuses -- But They're (Mostly) Below Market Rate
It may not be market rate, but it's better than nothing.
(Image via Getty)
Despite all the upheaval in the legal industry (and the rest of the world) in 2020, there’s also been a fair amount of good news — mostly in the form of money. Elite Biglaw firms have largely decided to hand out special bonuses — in addition to the traditional year-end bonuses — in recognition of associates’ hard work during a particularly challenging time. Now Cozen O’Connor has decided to get in on the action.
According to leadership at the firm, Cozen O’Connor had a pretty good year. And they’re willing to share that good fortune with the rank and file of the firm, from an email sent by the leadership (available in full on the next page):
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We could not be more proud of the fact that we did not need to take the austerity measures that many firms took in reducing compensation of its staff and lawyers. It proves that our business model of retaining earnings to protect against unforeseen circumstances in the economy is the absolute right way to manage a law firm. Of course nobody could have predicted that a pandemic would test the resilience of the legal industry, but whatever the event, our financial strength set us apart from our peers.
The bonus scale at Cozen is as follows:
As you can see first year associates make out slightly better under the Cozen scale (market rate is $7,500 for them). The class of 2018 is the same as market rate. But by the class of 2017, associates are missing out compared with the market numbers. And we’re not talking about chump change — the difference for mid-level to senior associates is $10,000 to $20,000 depending on class year.
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But smaller special bonuses are better than no special bonuses, and WAY better than austerity measures.
Please help us help you when it comes to bonus news at other firms. As soon as your firm’s bonus memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus”) or text us (646-820-8477). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).
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