Lawyer Pay
Milbank announces bonuses; did it beat Cravath?
A bonus announcement by Milbank on Monday likely disappointed BigLaw associates hoping that it would set the stage for even higher year-end cash. (Image from Shutterstock)
Updated: A bonus announcement by Milbank on Monday likely disappointed BigLaw associates hoping that it would set the stage for even higher year-end cash.
Milbank is matching the year-end bonus standard set by Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which ranges from $15,000 to $115,000, depending on class year. Cravath is also paying special bonuses ranging from $6,000 to $25,000, adopting the standard set by Milbank when it paid summer bonuses.
Above the Law, Law.com, Bloomberg Law and Law360 have coverage of announcements by Milbank and other law firms Monday.
“Milbank’s move,” Bloomberg Law reports, “means there’s unlikely to be an associate compensation war among prominent firms this year. The Manhattan-founded firm and Wall Street’s Cravath have set the associate bonus scale in recent years, with many firms waiting to see what the pair do before rolling out matching bonuses.”
Here is the bonus scale adopted by Cravath and Milbank:
• Class of 2025: $15,000 year-end, $6,000 special, $21,000 total (prorated)
• Class of 2024: $20,000 year-end, $6,000 special, $26,000 total
• Class of 2023: $30,000 year-end, $10,000 special, $40,000 total
• Class of 2022: $57,500 year-end, $15,000 special, $72,500 total
• Class of 2021: $75,000 year-end, $20,000 special, $95,000 total
• Class of 2020: $90,000 year-end, $25,000 special, $115,000 total
• Class of 2019: $105,000 year-end, $25,000 special, $130,000 total
• Class of 2018: $115,000 year-end, $25,000 special, $140,000 total
Base salaries for associates at Cravath will range from $225,000 to $420,000, the same amount paid last year.
Several firms have announced bonuses following the Cravath standard. Above the Law has covered each announcement. Here is the list; firms matched Cravath unless specified.
• Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft (High billers get more.)
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Clifford Chance (Scale is for U.S. associates.)
• Cravath (This firm was the first to announce.)
• Dechert (No bonus is specified for the class of 2025. High billers get more.)
• Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson (High billers get more.)
• Hogan Lovells (Bonuses begin with the class of 2024.)
• McDermott Will & Schulte (Associates who started after Aug. 1 won’t get year-end bonuses. About two-thirds of associates from predecessor firm McDermott Will & Emery will receive above-market bonuses.)
• Milbank
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (Some associates will get additional discretionary bonuses)
• Ropes & Gray (Associates in the class of 2017 and beyond will get a year-end bonus of $130,000 along with a $25,000 special bonus. High billers may get more.)
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Bonuses are the same as Cravath’s, except the class of 2019 will receive year-end bonuses of $105,000 or $115,000 while the class of 2018 will receive $115,000 or $125,000.)
• Vartabedian Hester & Haynes (Bonuses range from $21,000 to $140,000. Summer bonuses were $5,000 for all attorneys and staff.)
• Wilkinson Stekloff (Year-end bonuses range from $22,500 to $172,500, and formerly announced spring bonuses range from $25,000 to $60,000.)
Above the Law lists the firms offering bonuses along with details at its 2025 Bonus Tracker.
Updated Nov. 26 at 1:35 p.m. to include three additional law firms (Clifford Chance; Holwell Shuster & Goldberg; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges) and a link to Above the Law’s bonus tracker.
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