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Anyone have insight on market bonuses this year? Are we expecting the base bonus scale to remain stagnant?

My assessment of the odds is:

10% - Meaningful (generally >$10k) increase
15% - Nominal (generally $5-10k) increase
74.5% - Stagnant
0.5% - Decrease

Partners have said my firm is having a "very good year" but I don't work at Cravath and I suspect they set market again this year.

Given all the cost cutting going on at my V5....fully expect bonus to stay the same and lots of bitching within partnership if someone else raises

I've heard that lots of top firms have having their best years ever, again. PPP is going to be up at almost all of the V25, again. Someone will pull the trigger on bonuses 5k-10k higher.

Anonymous User wrote:I've heard that lots of top firms have having their best years ever, again. PPP is going to be up at almost all of the V25, again. Someone will pull the trigger on bonuses 5k-10k higher.

We’ve heard our V5 partners bitching about having hired too many first years and shit. It’s not gonna come from us lol. Praying for S&C/CSM.

Anonymous User wrote:I've heard that lots of top firms have having their best years ever, again. PPP is going to be up at almost all of the V25, again. Someone will pull the trigger on bonuses 5k-10k higher.

I hear this a lot but also a lot of what another poster mentioned about heavy cost-cutting among the V10. I wonder if it's firm specific or if firms are just trying to have their cake and eat it too.

Ohhhh goodie I'm glad I'm not the only one is trying to count my chickens before they hatch.

I'm at one of the firms that is always among the first to match. We recently had a practice group quarterly meeting and the firm quarterly meeting from the head of the firm. All measures of income and profit are up generously year over year. Hoping for a slight boost. But as with OP, my guess is that Cravath will remain the same as last year, but that David Polk or S&C will go over the top and then we'll all end up getting trued up.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I've heard that lots of top firms have having their best years ever, again. PPP is going to be up at almost all of the V25, again. Someone will pull the trigger on bonuses 5k-10k higher.

We’ve heard our V5 partners bitching about having hired too many first years and shit. It’s not gonna come from us lol. Praying for S&C/CSM.

I think the best part of this thread is how proud Skadden guys are that they work at a "V5".

Anonymous User wrote:Ohhhh goodie I'm glad I'm not the only one is trying to count my chickens before they hatch.

I'm at one of the firms that is always among the first to match. We recently had a practice group quarterly meeting and the firm quarterly meeting from the head of the firm. All measures of income and profit are up generously year over year. Hoping for a slight boost. But as with OP, my guess is that Cravath will remain the same as last year, but that David Polk or S&C will go over the top and then we'll all end up getting trued up.

With so many top firms having income and profits up and only one raise to salary in the last decade, stagnant bonuses would be very bad for associate morale. Firms will up the bonus amount.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Ohhhh goodie I'm glad I'm not the only one is trying to count my chickens before they hatch.

I'm at one of the firms that is always among the first to match. We recently had a practice group quarterly meeting and the firm quarterly meeting from the head of the firm. All measures of income and profit are up generously year over year. Hoping for a slight boost. But as with OP, my guess is that Cravath will remain the same as last year, but that David Polk or S&C will go over the top and then we'll all end up getting trued up.

With so many top firms having income and profits up and only one raise to salary in the last decade, stagnant bonuses would be very bad for associate morale. Firms will up the bonus amount.

Hopefully. My firm, which was one of the first to match the Cravath raise, would have matched higher (according to a partner, firm management had already been approved to match up to a certain amount; she didn't say what the ceiling was, but $180 et al. was below that ceiling). So hopefully that delta between where Cravath landed and where they thought Cravath might land means they pay that out in bonuses.

Does STB's elimination of a 3rd rotation for newbies qualify as a cost cutting measure?

FascinatedWanderer wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I've heard that lots of top firms have having their best years ever, again. PPP is going to be up at almost all of the V25, again. Someone will pull the trigger on bonuses 5k-10k higher.

We’ve heard our V5 partners bitching about having hired too many first years and shit. It’s not gonna come from us lol. Praying for S&C/CSM.

I think the best part of this thread is how proud Skadden guys are that they work at a "V5".

Seen ITT: IR8 DPW/S&C associate mad that his firm is less prestigious (literally only thing the vault rankings tell you, see below) than Skadden. Also, no, I do not work at Skadden.

How does Vault come up with its list of the Top 100 law firms? The first step is to compile a list of the most renowned law firms across the country by reviewing the feedback we have received in previous surveys, poring over legal publications, speaking with lawyers, legal recruiters, and law firm personnel, and reviewing other published rankings. We then asked these top firms to distribute an online survey to their associates. This year, nearly 18,000 attorneys returned anonymous surveys to Vault. Associates from all over the country and the world responded. We heard from lawyers in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, DC, Miami, London, Cleveland, Seattle, Orlando, Paris, Phoenix, Atlanta and many other domestic and international locations. The online survey asked attorneys to score each of the law firms on a scale of 1 to 10 based on how prestigious they perceive the firm to be. Associates were instructed to only rate those firms with which they were familiar and were not permitted to rate their own firm. Vault then tallied the scores and now presents the results in our Top 100 ranking.

v5junior wrote:

FascinatedWanderer wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I've heard that lots of top firms have having their best years ever, again. PPP is going to be up at almost all of the V25, again. Someone will pull the trigger on bonuses 5k-10k higher.

We’ve heard our V5 partners bitching about having hired too many first years and shit. It’s not gonna come from us lol. Praying for S&C/CSM.

I think the best part of this thread is how proud Skadden guys are that they work at a "V5".

Seen ITT: IR8 DPW/S&C associate mad that his firm is less prestigious (literally only thing the vault rankings tell you, see below) than Skadden. Also, no, I do not work at Skadden.

How does Vault come up with its list of the Top 100 law firms? The first step is to compile a list of the most renowned law firms across the country by reviewing the feedback we have received in previous surveys, poring over legal publications, speaking with lawyers, legal recruiters, and law firm personnel, and reviewing other published rankings. We then asked these top firms to distribute an online survey to their associates. This year, nearly 18,000 attorneys returned anonymous surveys to Vault. Associates from all over the country and the world responded. We heard from lawyers in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, DC, Miami, London, Cleveland, Seattle, Orlando, Paris, Phoenix, Atlanta and many other domestic and international locations. The online survey asked attorneys to score each of the law firms on a scale of 1 to 10 based on how prestigious they perceive the firm to be. Associates were instructed to only rate those firms with which they were familiar and were not permitted to rate their own firm. Vault then tallied the scores and now presents the results in our Top 100 ranking.

I was original poster and I’m not Skadden lol. Calm down. V5 reference was to highlight that I don’t think likely that firms at this level are ready/eager to raise bonuses just cuz profits are up.

What kind of cost cutting? Getting rid of outdated services like the library/librarian is unfortunate but understandable. Getting rid of snacks is not.

Anyway, our hopes really lie with Cravath with dark horse S&C and maybe STB?

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:What kind of cost cutting? Getting rid of outdated services like the library/librarian is unfortunate but understandable. Getting rid of snacks is not.

Anyway, our hopes really lie with Cravath with dark horse S&C and maybe STB?

and Batman.

I'm at a firm with top 10 PPP that is always in the first 3 firms to match bonuses/salary. We just had our state of the firm address from the chairman the other day, and we are having a hell of a year. I'll be pretty annoyed if bonuses stay stagnant given all the extra money going into the partners' pockets.

Looking at CSM/DPW/S&C/STB to make a move. (Sorry Skadden).

Anonymous User wrote: With so many top firms having income and profits up and only one raise to salary in the last decade, stagnant bonuses would be very bad for associate morale. Firms will up the bonus amount.

LOL

Anonymous User wrote:I'm at a firm with top 10 PPP that is always in the first 3 firms to match bonuses/salary. We just had our state of the firm address from the chairman the other day, and we are having a hell of a year. I'll be pretty annoyed if bonuses stay stagnant given all the extra money going into the partners' pockets.

Looking at CSM/DPW/S&C/STB to make a move. (Sorry Skadden).

At the same firm. Also hoping the line our pockets a bit (especially given the new horribly onerous daynote policy).

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I'm at a firm with top 10 PPP that is always in the first 3 firms to match bonuses/salary. We just had our state of the firm address from the chairman the other day, and we are having a hell of a year. I'll be pretty annoyed if bonuses stay stagnant given all the extra money going into the partners' pockets.

Looking at CSM/DPW/S&C/STB to make a move. (Sorry Skadden).

At the same firm. Also hoping the line our pockets a bit (especially given the new horribly onerous daynote policy).

Yup. Same firm for sure lol. Who the hell has time to release daynotes on time?!

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I'm at a firm with top 10 PPP that is always in the first 3 firms to match bonuses/salary. We just had our state of the firm address from the chairman the other day, and we are having a hell of a year. I'll be pretty annoyed if bonuses stay stagnant given all the extra money going into the partners' pockets.

Looking at CSM/DPW/S&C/STB to make a move. (Sorry Skadden).

At the same firm. Also hoping the line our pockets a bit (especially given the new horribly onerous daynote policy).

Yup. Same firm for sure lol. Who the hell has time to release daynotes on time?!

I generally try to. To be fair, our new policy is similar to the policies at other firms. Hell, some other firms require them to be cleared daily or every third day. I know of at least one firm that will make you bonus ineligible if you have four instances of time not entered by the due date.

rpupkin wrote:

Anonymous User wrote: With so many top firms having income and profits up and only one raise to salary in the last decade, stagnant bonuses would be very bad for associate morale. Firms will up the bonus amount.

LOL

Tbf morale is a proxy for midlevels leaving in drovesss

Related question: When will we get the announcement? My firm also just had its end of fiscal talk with associates and reported great numbers, and high average billable hours. I think someone announces the week of or week after Thanksgiving.

Anonymous User wrote:Related question: When will we get the announcement? My firm also just had its end of fiscal talk with associates and reported great numbers, and high average billable hours. I think someone announces the week of or week after Thanksgiving.

There is always speculation as to when it will happen, but it's generally around Thanksgiving.

I think there's enough to gain that someone will pull the trigger. Wont be CSM.

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:What kind of cost cutting? Getting rid of outdated services like the library/librarian is unfortunate but understandable. Getting rid of snacks is not.

Anyway, our hopes really lie with Cravath with dark horse S&C and maybe STB?

Ya interested as to what cost cutting measures are happening places.