Bonus Season Opens...
Sullivan & Cromwell Opens Bonus Season for Associates Range of $30,000 to $50,000 mirrors last year's compensation.
Though Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the nation's most profitable firm, stands apart with first-year bonuses usually starting at $50,000, other leading New York firms like Sullivan & Cromwell; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and a handful of others have generally sought parity in terms of associate pay, especially at the junior levels.
The usually swift but occasionally sloppy market alignment results from such firms' fear of being disadvantaged in recruiting top graduates from leading law schools. In the past, the competition included both base salary, which increased from $85,000 to $125,000 for first-years between 1997 and 2000, and bonuses, which also peaked in 2000 at $40,000 for first-years and $100,000 for senior associates.
Since then, however, New York firms, most of which still pay a first-year base of $125,000, have shown a marked preference for discretionary bonuses over salary increases. Though Skadden raised its first-year salaries to $140,000 in 2000, it has since paid a correspondingly lower bonus, so its overall associate compensation is in line with that of its New York rivals. Likewise, the September announcement of first-year salary hikes to $135,000 by two Los Angeles litigation boutiques, Irell & Manella and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, has engendered no reaction among New York firms.
Though Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the nation's most profitable firm, stands apart with first-year bonuses usually starting at $50,000, other leading New York firms like Sullivan & Cromwell; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and a handful of others have generally sought parity in terms of associate pay, especially at the junior levels.
The usually swift but occasionally sloppy market alignment results from such firms' fear of being disadvantaged in recruiting top graduates from leading law schools. In the past, the competition included both base salary, which increased from $85,000 to $125,000 for first-years between 1997 and 2000, and bonuses, which also peaked in 2000 at $40,000 for first-years and $100,000 for senior associates.
Since then, however, New York firms, most of which still pay a first-year base of $125,000, have shown a marked preference for discretionary bonuses over salary increases. Though Skadden raised its first-year salaries to $140,000 in 2000, it has since paid a correspondingly lower bonus, so its overall associate compensation is in line with that of its New York rivals. Likewise, the September announcement of first-year salary hikes to $135,000 by two Los Angeles litigation boutiques, Irell & Manella and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, has engendered no reaction among New York firms.
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