Biglaw Firm Wows With 'Extra-Extraordinary' Year-End Bonuses For High Billers
Boies Schiller knows how to make associates happy!
It has been eight long days since Baker McKenzie announced their year-end bonuses, and associates at other firms have spent their time refreshing their email with little to show for it. The market was in a bit of a dry spell, with no other firms stepping up to match — or exceed (hey, a girl can dream) — the bonus scale set by Baker.
Until today.
This morning, Boies Schiller Flexner announced their bonus scale for associates (those who opt into the market compensation plan at the firm). They’ve matched the market scale set by Baker — with extraordinary and extra-extraordinary bumps for associates who billed a buttload this year.
|
Class Year |
Year-End Bonus (2000-2349 hours) |
Extraordinary Bonus (2350-2599 hours) |
Extra-Extraordinary Bonus (2600+ hours) |
|
2022(prorated) |
$15,000 |
$30,000 |
$40,000 |
|
2021 |
$20,000 |
$40,000 |
$50,000 |
|
2020 |
$30,000 |
$50,000 |
$60,000 |
|
2019 |
$57,500 |
$75,000 |
$85,000 |
|
2018 |
$75,000 |
$100,000 |
$115,000 |
|
2017 |
$90,000 |
$120,000 |
$135,000 |
|
2016 |
$105,000 |
$140,000 |
$150,000 |
|
2015+ |
$115,000 |
$150,000 |
$165,000 |
At Boies Schiller, associates have the option of doing the market bonus system, which will get them the above scale, or they can opt into the firm’s formula compensation system, which includes a revenue share component that affords associates a cut of the matters they work on, which for contingency work can be massive.
This is what the firm noted about their formula bonuses this year:
As a point of information, when we first offered associates the choice of the “market” system or our traditional formula compensation system two years ago, the majority of associates initially opted for the market system. Two years later, the vast majority of associates have opted to return to (or start on) formula compensation, presumably in recognition of the greater flexibility that it offers to associates at any workload level (since formula compensation scales directly as a function of creditable hours billed, as opposed to requiring associates to hit certain milestones); the credit that associates may receive for originating or running matters; and the participation in any premium from recoveries in our contingency or success-fee cases. As you know, we also made subtle changes to the formula this year that also generally run in favor of associates.
You can read the full memo on the next page.
Congratulations to associates on the generous bonuses!
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). 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, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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).
