Quinn Emanuel v. Boies Schiller Forum

[Anonymous User]

For the current BSF associate: when you joined the firm, were you disappointed/surprised to learn how they can be a little stingy when it comes to benefits that are standard at other firms? For example, you're expected to use your own cell phone (no firm help on data plans, let alone the actual phone), relocation costs, etc.?

Also, to the extent you can say, what's the educated guess about when BSF will change its bonus formula, and why do you believe it won't change that much for juniors in particular? My understanding was that the formula currently favors juniors too much and senior associates too little, so the whole point of the change is to correct that by cutting from the juniors to give more to the seniors.

Finally, BSF advertises the fact that junior associates can get 6-figure bonuses. Is that them just talking about outlier individuals who billed truly crazy hours in a given year, or is there a fair bunch of juniors who actually get such high bonuses, compensating for the low clerkship bonus ("low" in comparison to lit shops like QE, Susman, Kellogg, Selenda & Gay, etc.)?

Thanks very much for answering these questions!

There's some occasional griping about incidental costs but I think the most common view is that it's not a significant issue, especially given usual bonuses. The commenter above is right that the bigger issue is where the firm has underfunded support (especially IT). Thankfully that has actually been improving - there has been an IT modernization push over the last two years and para support in the offices I deal with has been getting better.

I think some change in the comp formula is coming but will likely take a few years (potentially with non-formula adjustments in the meantime). There is a large bloc of associates who are fine with the current system, and others are divided in what a fix would look like. Partners are reluctant to cut junior associates significantly for fear of impact on retention/recruiting. So I tend to think that a change will take some time. That said, the firm is going through a period of change, so I freely admit I could be wrong.

I defer to the poster above about six-figure bonuses as a norm in NYC. My general impression from juniors is that they're regularly making well above market bonuses if they are staying busy (normal busy, not crazy busy). And in NYC it would be a challenge not to be busy.

If I can offer some unsolicited advice -- the difference in clerkship bonuses is significant, but I'd focus more on office/firm culture and the type of work the firms do. When you talk to associates at the firms ask about their week and month (actual week and actual month - that's a lot more telling than their fuzzy impression of a "normal" week or month and they'll probably explain any major deviations). See how they treat each other and what they do and don't say about the people they work with. See what they volunteer information about. $50k after taxes is going to be about $25-30k. It's real money but it's not a huge amount compared to differences in the people who will dominate your life. Good luck.

[Anonymous User]

This is all very helpful. I'm leaning towards BSF over Quinn because (1) The comp at BSF will probably overcome the initial $50k clerkship bonus within 2 years even if BSF makes changes to their bonus formula; (2) Juniors seem like they get more substantive experience early on than juniors at Quinn; (3) This is obviously anecdotal, but I felt like the people at Quinn were trying a little too hard to convince everyone how special and badass their firm is. It came across as cocky and abrasive, but also as insecure. (The irony is that when asked what firm BSF was most similar to, Davis Boies answered that he saw it as a version of WLRK. LOL.)