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With Halloween nearly upon us, that means bonus season is right around the corner. In years past, Biglaw firms were all about treats, offering pandemic-related special bonuses amid a white-hot lateral market. But here in 2023, some firms are handing out tricks — like $0 in special bonus cash and reduced payouts based on attendance compliance — thanks to our “newest” normal returning to the way things were. Associates are eagerly awaiting their year-end bonuses, even if they may seem indifferent about them. In fact, the 500-plus respondents to our annual bonus season survey think 2023’s overall bonus compensation will look just like last year’s bonuses.
As a little reminder — as if you really needed one — this is what last year’s Baker McKenzie/Cravath bonuses looked like:
- Class of 2022: $15,000 (pro-rated)
- Class of 2021: $20,000
- Class of 2020: $30,000
- Class of 2019: $57,500
- Class of 2018: $75,000
- Class of 2017: $90,000
- Class of 2016: $105,000
- Class of 2015+: $115,000
Bonus money remained the same in 2022 after Cravath increased the size of its bonuses across all class years in 2021. Everyone saw more money, and the most senior associates in Biglaw received $115,000 instead of the usual $100,000. (Last year, Baker McKenzie kicked off bonus season by offering more money to most junior associates, leaving other firms to decide whether to offer Cravath’s $15K bonuses or Baker’s elevated $20K bonuses.) Once again, it was a great year for bonuses. With all of that background, let’s turn to this year’s bonuses.
Considering current economic conditions, what will 2023 bonuses look like?
More than three-fourths of associates (76%) predict that 2023 bonuses will look similar to 2022. Among those who foresee changes, more associates are optimistic about an increase; 14% think bonuses will be higher than 2022, compared to 10% who believe they will be lower. Biglaw firms better not disappoint when it comes to bonus payouts this year, because we can’t even imagine the state of uproar it would cause among associates.
Will any other money be headed associates’ way? Our respondents seem pretty pessimistic when it comes to bonuses on top of bonuses in 2023.
Considering current economic conditions, do you think any additional special bonuses will be offered?
Few associates (12%) expect to see any special bonuses this year. While a small percentage of respondents aren’t sure, the vast majority (83%) said they do not believe any additional special bonuses will be offered. This isn’t surprising, especially since Quinn Emanuel was the only firm (that we know of) to offer fall bonuses to associates. Cross your fingers and hold out hope that any other firm will swoop in to make this bonus season extra special.
For those of you who are wondering when your bank accounts will be a little more flush, here’s a list of the dates when year-end market bonuses hit Biglaw since 2006, the very first year Above the Law started publishing bonus news. Take a look:
For the past few years, since 2018, bonus announcements had been made in early to mid-November until Cravath stretched the timeline by a smidge in 2021. Let’s see when our respondents think this year’s first bonus will be announced.
When do you think 2023 bonuses will be announced?
Most respondents (68%) believe that bonuses won’t be announced until the week of Thanksgiving or later. The most popular prediction is the first week of December. This (sort of) lines up with past precedent set by Cravath — if we assume that Cravath will be the first firm on bonuses this year, that is.
Cravath tends to stick to a schedule as far as these things are concerned, and the firm tends to announce its bonus news on either the last Monday in November or the first Monday in the first week of December. But with other firms in the mix — will Baker McKenzie try to announce first again this year? — it’s really hard to say what will happen. There may be no rhyme nor reason when it comes to this year’s big bonus announcements.
While associates are busy counting down the hours until Bonus Day, they’re likely even busier counting up the hours they’re on track to bill in 2023 to meet bonus eligibility targets. Just how much are associates billing now? The answer is… nearly as much as they billed last year. Here are the full survey results.
How many hours are you on track to bill in 2023?
The largest group of associates (20%) said they are on track to bill between 2000 and 2099 hours this year. More than 40% expect to bill even more. These figures are comparable to those reported in 2022. This year, 37% of associates said they were on track to record fewer than 2000 hours, which is the same as last year. Maybe this is why associates are still worried about the prospect of layoffs….
But why sour the mood with talk of layoffs? Biglaw associates can soon look forward to their bank accounts being stuffed like the Thanksgiving turkeys they’ll gobble down at the end of next month.
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm announces or matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus/Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.
And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts (which is the alert list we also use for salary announcements), please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for your help!
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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