Mid-Year Bonuses Forum

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SamuelDanforth

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by SamuelDanforth » Sun May 26, 2019 2:26 pm

I feel like SG/Hueston Hennigan/etc will definitely match. Business has been booming for those kinds of firms.
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Yugihoe

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Yugihoe » Sun May 26, 2019 6:27 pm

Think all firms with high PPP i.e. Milbank, Cahill, etc. are all going to match along with the v10 too. Hoping no TTT hours requirement attached to it though.
Last edited by QContinuum on Mon May 27, 2019 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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LaChusa2020

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by LaChusa2020 » Mon May 27, 2019 11:28 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:It will take a V50 firm matching Gunderson for me to be fully convinced a summer bonus wave is happening.
The wave will will happen because Cooley/WSGR/Fenwick, Gunderson's primary Silicon Valley competitors in the EC/VC space, pretty much have to match.
This seems right. And if it makes it to Cooley and WSGR it won’t stop there. Other Bay Area firms (some with big east coast offices) will have to match and New York firms won’t let themselves be beaten by California based firms. And I’d expect Cooley/WSGR etc are discussing it heavily right now.

Ultramar vistas

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Ultramar vistas » Mon May 27, 2019 11:46 am

More cynically, this will happen because giving summer bonuses is a cheaper and more flexible (less permanent) way to increase compensation in light of a good year than a raise to 200k, and no firm wants to be on the hook for 200k right now as the likelihood of a slowdown looms.
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LaLiLuLeLo

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by LaLiLuLeLo » Mon May 27, 2019 1:32 pm

No firm is gonna raise the year after raises.

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Ultramar vistas

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Ultramar vistas » Mon May 27, 2019 2:17 pm

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:No firm is gonna raise the year after raises.
While this sounds logical, it’s flatly untrue. Raises in past years have come in clusters. While logically at some point a raise in a prior year has to stop indicating a raise in the current year, a raise in a prior year does not preclude another raise.

https://abovethelaw.com/2017/03/could-b ... recession/

That said, I’m sure the comp committees would prefer a system where they can ratchet associate compensation down in a downturn, hence my cynical opinion that firms will jump at the chance to take the lesser evil of summer bonuses over a raise that cannot be walked back.

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jkpolk

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by jkpolk » Mon May 27, 2019 2:21 pm

The lateral market and rising 2Ls (and current employees) will take note of which matching "top" firms nickle and dime with high hours requirements or delayed payment. Certain firms do it all the time and it 100% reveals a conscious approach by management to (1) have the "we're keeping up" PR while not actually keeping up and (2) limit marginal expenditures on associates as much as possible even though the "market standard" is pushing higher. It's hilarious hearing a cheap firm bitch about how hard it is to find lateral talent - like no shit, if you nickle and dime your associates, good candidates will choose to work places that offer better comp.

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LaLiLuLeLo

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by LaLiLuLeLo » Mon May 27, 2019 2:48 pm

Ultramar vistas wrote:
LaLiLuLeLo wrote:No firm is gonna raise the year after raises.
While this sounds logical, it’s flatly untrue. Raises in past years have come in clusters. While logically at some point a raise in a prior year has to stop indicating a raise in the current year, a raise in a prior year does not preclude another raise.

https://abovethelaw.com/2017/03/could-b ... recession/

That said, I’m sure the comp committees would prefer a system where they can ratchet associate compensation down in a downturn, hence my cynical opinion that firms will jump at the chance to take the lesser evil of summer bonuses over a raise that cannot be walked back.
Clustering is not a raise in consecutive years and there is zero incentive for a firm to raise immediately after a raise. Plus, using pre-recession data is largely worthless because the way firms approach compensation and their own finances has shifted dramatically since then. I stand by the statement that no firm is going to raise the year after a raise. They will boost comp in other ways but they won’t nail themselves to a wall with a raise when they’re still seeing how the last raise shakes out for their finances.

Ultramar vistas

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Ultramar vistas » Mon May 27, 2019 3:35 pm

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:
Ultramar vistas wrote:
LaLiLuLeLo wrote:No firm is gonna raise the year after raises.
While this sounds logical, it’s flatly untrue. Raises in past years have come in clusters. While logically at some point a raise in a prior year has to stop indicating a raise in the current year, a raise in a prior year does not preclude another raise.

https://abovethelaw.com/2017/03/could-b ... recession/

That said, I’m sure the comp committees would prefer a system where they can ratchet associate compensation down in a downturn, hence my cynical opinion that firms will jump at the chance to take the lesser evil of summer bonuses over a raise that cannot be walked back.
Clustering is not a raise in consecutive years and there is zero incentive for a firm to raise immediately after a raise. Plus, using pre-recession data is largely worthless because the way firms approach compensation and their own finances has shifted dramatically since then. I stand by the statement that no firm is going to raise the year after a raise. They will boost comp in other ways but they won’t nail themselves to a wall with a raise when they’re still seeing how the last raise shakes out for their finances.
I mean you can stand by it all you want but it’s an incorrect statement.

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Wild Card

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Wild Card » Mon May 27, 2019 4:16 pm

Yugihoe wrote:Think all firms with high PPP i.e. Milbank, Cahill, etc. are all going to match along with the v10 too. Hoping no TTT hours requirement attached to it though.
If there's an hours requirement, not a single first year at my V50 is going to get a bonus.

splitmuch

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by splitmuch » Mon May 27, 2019 4:19 pm

Wild Card wrote:
Yugihoe wrote:Think all firms with high PPP i.e. Milbank, Cahill, etc. are all going to match along with the v10 too. Hoping no TTT hours requirement attached to it though.
If there's an hours requirement, not a single first year at my V50 is going to get a bonus.
If they occur, they won’t be aimed at first year retention.

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rokiv

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by rokiv » Tue May 28, 2019 9:30 am

Here’s hoping there’s some movement on bonuses today!
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HerculesQEinstein

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by HerculesQEinstein » Tue May 28, 2019 9:49 am

Wild Card wrote: If there's an hours requirement, not a single first year at my V50 is going to get a bonus.
...and nothing of value was lost...
Last edited by QContinuum on Tue May 28, 2019 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MurdockLLP2

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by MurdockLLP2 » Tue May 28, 2019 10:24 am

Wild Card wrote:
Yugihoe wrote:Think all firms with high PPP i.e. Milbank, Cahill, etc. are all going to match along with the v10 too. Hoping no TTT hours requirement attached to it though.
If there's an hours requirement, not a single first year at my V50 is going to get a bonus.
Are you lit or corporate? I'm a corporate first year at a V50 in NYC and I'm on pace for 2,200 (as are many of my friends both in the firm and outside the firm).

JohnnieSockran

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by JohnnieSockran » Tue May 28, 2019 11:10 am

how long until we expect someone to match?

I just hope one of the bigger players ups the scale a bit without an hours requirement.
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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Anonymous User » Tue May 28, 2019 11:43 am

MurdockLLP2 wrote:
Wild Card wrote:
Yugihoe wrote:Think all firms with high PPP i.e. Milbank, Cahill, etc. are all going to match along with the v10 too. Hoping no TTT hours requirement attached to it though.
If there's an hours requirement, not a single first year at my V50 is going to get a bonus.
Are you lit or corporate? I'm a corporate first year at a V50 in NYC and I'm on pace for 2,200 (as are many of my friends both in the firm and outside the firm).
Not OP. I’m at a lit-heavy V20 and things are pretty slow here. I billed probably 150 total over my first three months, but have since billed about 400 over the last two. So things are ramping up but I don’t think anyone who started in the fall would be on a 2,000 prorated pace here either.

Here’s hoping that the big boys match without an hours requirement and at the upper end of the Gunderson ranges. $20k for 4th years would be a June miracle.

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glitched

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by glitched » Tue May 28, 2019 11:53 am

Do we have any information on whether Gunderson has led before and whether firms matched?

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Anonymous User » Tue May 28, 2019 11:57 am

lit at my v50 has been going nuts all year, associates are getting buried.

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Elston Gunn

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Elston Gunn » Tue May 28, 2019 12:03 pm

glitched wrote:Do we have any information on whether Gunderson has led before and whether firms matched?
Wasn’t Gunderson the first to go to $160k? Or maybe to $145k?

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Anonymous User » Tue May 28, 2019 12:44 pm

My firm has been very busy. I expect this will be its best year ever for the ninth year in a row. Bonuses make as much sense this summer as they did last summer.

And PPP is up far more than the $10k or $20k of bonuses. I appreciate getting that in recognition of associates' hard work, but it's a small amount compared to $2M or $3M or $4M in PPP that goes up $75k or more almost every year.

splitmuch

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by splitmuch » Tue May 28, 2019 12:56 pm

Elston Gunn wrote:
glitched wrote:Do we have any information on whether Gunderson has led before and whether firms matched?
Wasn’t Gunderson the first to go to $160k? Or maybe to $145k?
125 during dot com boom, but point stands.

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DoveBodyWash

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by DoveBodyWash » Tue May 28, 2019 2:12 pm

STB friends, please advise.

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by Anonymous User » Tue May 28, 2019 5:31 pm

My firm cut summer lunches substantially...so while I would like this to happen, I'm pessimistic.

QContinuum

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by QContinuum » Tue May 28, 2019 5:55 pm

Anonymous User wrote:My firm cut summer lunches substantially...so while I would like this to happen, I'm pessimistic.
What were the lunches cut to?

splitmuch

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Re: Mid-Year Bonuses

Post by splitmuch » Tue May 28, 2019 5:59 pm

QContinuum wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:My firm cut summer lunches substantially...so while I would like this to happen, I'm pessimistic.
What were the lunches cut to?
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