New
MegaFirm
Announces
Bonuses:
McDermott
Will
&
Schulte’s
bonuses
are
above
the
Cravath
scale
for
some!
More
Money
For
Associates!:
Check
out
Dechert
and
Fried
Frank!
Lindsay
Halligan
Wows
With
Incompetence:
This
is
what
happens
when
you
fire
all
of
the
experienced
prosecutors.
Judge
Punished
For
Taking
Halloween
A
Little
Too
Seriously:
To
be
fair,
probably
the
least
offensive
costume
he
could
have
gone
with.
Ed.
Note:
Welcome
to
our
daily
feature
Trivia
Question
of
the
Day!
According
to
analysis
by
Dr.
Adam
Feldman,
across
176
federal
court
nomination,
George
W.
Bush
saw
his
nominees
pass
with
an
average
margin
of
how
many
votes?
Hint:
It’s
a
symbol
of
an
age
where
the
federal
courts
were
treated
in
a
less
partisan
way.
For
example,
President
Biden’s
nominees
averaged
margins
of
15.6
votes
across
215
confirmations.
See
the
answer
on
the
next
page.
Ed.
note:
Welcome
to
our
daily
feature,
Quote
of
the
Day.
We
talk
about
cautious
optimism
going
into
the
fourth
quarter—that
may
be
causing
some
more
of
the
caution
we’re
seeing
in
the
marketplace.
We
could
have
a
great
year.
But
it
may
just
be
a
pretty
good
year.
—
Owen
Burman,
senior
consultant
for
Wells
Fargo’s
Legal
Specialty
Group,
in
comments
given
to
the
American
Lawyer,
concerning
the
group’s
latest
report,
which
noted
that
“elite”
firms
in
the
Am
Law
top
50
may
be
setting
the
curve
for
the
Am
Law
200’s
“robust”
profitability.
While
the
Am
Law
50
saw
demand
growth
of
3%,
the
best
of
the
best
firms
within
that
group
saw
demand
growth
of
5%.
Les
Starck,
another
senior
consultant
for
Wells
Fargo,
said
the
elite
firms
“really
are
carrying
much
of
the
demand
growth.”
Staci
Zaretsky is
the
managing
editor
of
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 Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
connect
with
her
on LinkedIn.
Halloween,
much
like
MLK
Day,
has
reached
the
special
status
of
being
a
holiday
you
know
someone
is
going
to
get
fired
over
because
they
committed
a
little
too
hard
to
the
bit.
The
usual
“go
collect
your
belongings”
scenario
involves
people
who
decide
to
dress
up
in
Blackface
or
as
a
Nazi
—
the
latter
sometimes
having
so
much
attention
to
detail
that
you
wonder
if
their
costume
is
a
year-round
thing
behind
closed
doors.
But
this
Halloween
nixing
didn’t
seem
to
come
from
a
place
of
hate
—
just
a
Burning
Love
for
Elvis
the
Pelvis.
STL
Mag
has
coverage:
A
St.
Charles
County
judge
who
traded
his
black
robes
for
an
Elvis
jumpsuit
is
being
forced
into
retirement—and
his
mania
for
The
King
is
partly
to
blame.
Disciplinary
charges
accuse
Judge
Matthew
Thornhill
dressing
like
Elvis
Presley
in
court
on
Halloween,
making
Elvis
references
in
court,
and
even
playing
Elvis
tunes
in
his
courtroom.
As
part
of
an
agreement
with
the
Missouri
Supreme
Court’s
Commission
on
Retirement,
Removal,
and
Discipline,
Thornhill
will
serve
a
six-month
unpaid
suspension.
After
that,
he’ll
be
allowed
to
return
for
an
18-month
stint,
but
must
retire
after
that
and
promise
to
never
seek
reelection,
a
deal
that
allows
him
to
retire
with
20
years
of
service.
Missouri
judges
who
are
at
least
62
years
old
and
have
served
20
years
can
retire
with
full
benefits.
Tough
crowd.
You
can
see
photos
of
his
costume
below:
Not
only
was
this
clearly
because
of
the
holiday,
Halloween
fell
on
a
Friday
this
year.
You’re
forcing
a
guy
to
retire
for
what
he
wore
on
casual
Friday?!
So
much
for
judges
being
able
to
set
the
local
rules
for
their
courtrooms!
A
New
York
judge
recently
granted
counsel
the
option
of
wearing
costumes
to
work
for
Halloween
a
couple
of
days
in
advance
—
maybe
Thornhill’s
mistake
was
that
he
didn’t
give
folks
a
heads-up.
In
case
you’re
reading
this
with
a
Suspicious
Mind,
playing
dress
up
isn’t
the
only
reason
he’s
in
the
hot
seat.
Judge
Thornhill
violated
Missouri
Supreme
Court
rules
by
blabbing
about
his
political
affiliations
and
“hand-delivering
an
affidavit
vouching
for
a
party
in
an
adoption
case,”
but
those
substantive
reasons
aren’t
nearly
as
interesting
as
him
swearing
in
litigants
as
Elvis
songs
played
from
his
phone,
so
that’s
not
where
I’ll
be
focusing
my
attention.
If
this
were
a
Judges
Behaving
Badly
story
with
a
little
more
gravitas,
I’d
recommend
Judge
Thornhill
to
spend
the
six-month
unpaid
suspension
reading
up
on
why
taking
Ambien
isn’t
an
excuse
to
shout
racial
slurs
or
why
handcuffing
sleeping
children
in
your
courtroom
isn’t
the
best
practice,
but
considering
the
facts
presented,
I’ll
just
recommend
that
Thornhill
make
A
Little
Less
Conversation
about
his
political
affiliations
and
to
pay
more
attention
to
reading
Above
the
Law
—
his
costume
would
have
been
a
strong
contender
for
our
16th
annual
Legally
Themed
Halloween
Costume
Contest.
Elvis-Loving
St.
Charles
County
Judge
Forced
To
Retire
After
Dressing
Like
His
Idol
[STL
Mag]
Earlier:
SDNY
Judge
Tells
Biglaw
Lawyers
‘Costumes
Optional’
For
Friday
Hearing
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.
Lindsey
Halligan,
the
insurance
lawyer
elevated
to
run
the
U.S.
Attorney’s
Office
for
the
Eastern
District
of
Virginia,
has
managed
to
run
face
first
into
a
professional
wood
chipper
over
and
over
during
her
short
and
almost
assuredly
illegal
tenure.
Thrust
into
the
job
because
no
one
with
any
prosecutorial
experience
would
sign
off
on
criminal
cases
against
former
FBI
Director
James
“8647”
Comey
and
current
NY
Attorney
General
Letitia
James
—
cases
that
make
no
sense
—
Halligan
approached
the
task
at
hand
in
a
manner
befitting
a
graduate
of
the
Dunning
Kruger
School
of
Law,
digging
the
government
into
successively
deeper
holes
at
every
turn.
Last
week,
she
finally
appeared
in
court
to
explain
herself
and
it
did
not
go
well.
But
last
week,
we
thought
the
dumbest
part
of
Halligan’s
bogus
cases
would
be
signing
off
on
indictments
without
a
trace
of
authority.
As
it
turns
out,
it’s
so
much
worse!
Halligan
took
Comey
to
court
even
though
the
grand
jury
never
saw,
much
less
voted
on
the
operative
indictment.
Questions
about
the
indictment
swirled
from
jump,
when
the
court
wondered
why
they’d
received
two
different
indictments,
confusingly
at
odds
over
the
number
of
charges.
The
government
never
offered
much
of
a
satisfactory
explanation
for
this,
and
ultimately
the
Magistrate
ordered
the
DOJ
to
turn
over
grand
jury
material
to
Comey’s
lawyers.
Halligan
fought
this,
and
now
we
know
why:
she
had,
in
fact,
royally
screwed
up
the
grand
jury
process.
Anna
Bower
lays
out
the
full
timeline,
but
the
short
version
is
that
the
grand
jury
heard
three
charges
and
rejected
count
one.
The
Justice
Department
then
drafted
a
new
indictment
that
listed
only
the
two
counts
that
the
grand
jury
had
enough
votes
to
approve
and
—
without
sending
this
document
to
the
grand
jury
—
just
had
the
foreperson
sign
it.
This
is
why
it’s
a
bad
idea
to
drive
all
the
experienced
prosecutors
out
of
your
office.
But,
remember,
they
all
had
to
go
because
they
all
knew
this
case
was
frivolous.
Not
that
the
DOJ
will
admit
that…
Todd
Blanche
is
ordering
prosecutors
not
to
answer
questions
from
the
judge
at
the
same
time
we’re
learning
that
the
government
submitted
a
vibe-backed
indictment?
Cool,
cool,
cool.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.
Well,
well,
well
—
look
who
just
slid
into
bonus
season
with
their
checkbook
open.
Dechert
has
officially
matched
the
prevailing
year-end
and
special
bonus
scale,
ensuring
associates
can
breathe
for
at
least
five
minutes
before
remembering
their
hours
are
due
today.
But
Dechert
didn’t
stop
at
a
simple
match.
Oh
no.
The
firm
also
announced
extra
compensation
for
high
billers,
because
nothing
says
“we
value
you”
like
handing
out
more
money
to
the
associates
burning
that
midnight
oil.
Associate
bonuses,
which
will
be
paid
before
the
end
of
January
2026,
are
on
the
below
scale:
|
2025 U.S. Bonus Scale |
||
|
Class Year |
2025 Year End Bonus |
Special Bonus |
| 2024 | $20,000 | $6,000 |
| 2023 | $30,000 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | $57,500 | $15,000 |
| 2021 | $75,000 | $20,000 |
| 2020 | $90,000 | $25,000 |
| 2019 | $105,000 | $25,000 |
| 2018+ | $115,000 | $25,000 |
And
here’s
the
high
biller
fine
print:
As
previously
communicated,
lawyers
who
recorded
2,200
extraordinary
bonus
hours
are
eligible
to
receive
an
additional
30%
above
the
year-end
bonus
amount,
and
those
who
recorded
2,400
extraordinary
bonus
hours
are
eligible
to
receive
an
additional
40%.
This
extraordinary
bonus
is
in
addition
to
the
amounts
set
forth
above
and
aims
to
recognize
and
reward
exceptional
contributions.
Dechert
matching
Cravath
(and
Milbank
on
special
bonuses)
is
another
domino
falling
in
a
season
that,
so
far,
has
been
full
of
cautious
optimism
and
strategic
generosity.
This
will
put
pressure
on
peer
firms
to
get
their
own
announcements
out
before
every
associate
in
America
starts
drafting
internal
emails
titled
“please
advise
as
to
bonus
timeline.”
Bonus
season
is
officially
in
full
swing.
And
if
you’re
a
high
biller
at
Dechert?
That
ka-ching
you
hear
is
your
holiday
spirit.
Read
the
full
email
on
the
next
page.
So,
is
your
firm
matching
*both*
the
year-end
and
special
bonuses?
Let
Above
the
Law
know!
We
depend
on
your
tips
to
stay
on
top
of
important
bonus
updates,
so
when
your
firm
matches
(or
if
they
fail
to
do
so),
please
text
us
(646-820-8477)
or email
us (subject
line:
“[Firm
Name]
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
all
of
your
help!
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].
Biglaw
recruiting
director
out
after
racist
rant
goes
public.
A
squabble
between
lawyers
and
their
former
firm
presents
important
lessons
on
document
management,
but
we
spend
most
of
the
time
wondering
about
the
best
legally
themed
dominatrix
names.
And
we
talk
about
Paul
Weiss
getting
heckled
at
the
New
York
Bar
Foundation
awards
gala,
providing
one
more
embarrassing
story
to
a
rough
year.
I
agree
with
Ezra
Klein
on
a
lot.
Heck,
I
even
recommended
his
latest
book.
However,
he
recently
made
a
comment
on
his
podcast
the
substance
of
which
was
that
he
thinks
it’s
nuts
to
cut
off
contact
with
a
family
member
because
of
vastly
different
political
views.
To
which
I
say,
“The
f*ck?!”
It
is
pretty
much
the
archetypal
essence
of
being
an
American
not
to
cut
off
contact
with
a
family
member
for
stringently
disagreeing
politically
but
to
cut
off
the
flow
of
blood
to
the
brain
of
a
family
member
for
stringently
disagreeing
politically.
There
are
tons
of
examples
of
brothers
fighting
brothers,
fathers
fighting
sons,
etc.,
ad
nauseam,
in
the
Civil
War
over
political
differences.
Yne
could
argue
that
the
Civil
War
was
a
special
circumstance
—
good
versus
evil,
slavery
versus
freedom,
and
the
like
—
and
it
most
certainly
was
unique
in
many
respects.
Yet,
the
Civil
War
is
not
unique
at
all
in
terms
of
American
family
members
splitting
with
one
another
in
matters
of
life
and
death
because
of
differing
political
opinions,
like
American
patriots
antagonizing
loyalist
relatives
in
the
American
Revolution,
for
instance.
I
am
by
no
means
saying
you
should
go
out
and
slaughter
your
relatives
who
disagree
with
you.
What
I
am
saying
is
that
in
the
scope
of
American
history
it
is
quite
a
paltry
consequence
of
holding
a
clearly
incorrect
political
opinion
just
to
have
a
relative
decide
you
are
no
longer
worth
talking
to.
I’ve
just
recently
seen
my
brother
for
pretty
much
the
only
time
of
the
year
I
ever
see
him
anymore:
deer
hunting
season
back
home.
We
used
to
be
close.
We
went
on
a
trip
together
every
year.
One
time
in
Boston
we
bought
a
round
of
Sam
Adams
beer,
snuck
it
outside,
scaled
the
fence
at
the
historic
Granary
Burying
Ground
cemetery,
and
shared
a
midnight
beer
with
Samuel
Adams
himself,
or
what
is
left
of
him,
on
his
grave
(I
think
the
statute
of
limitations
has
passed
on
anything
related
to
that).
All
the
good
memories
aside,
the
last
ten
years
have
not
been
kind
to
our
relationship.
I
am
unabashedly
progressive,
and
my
brother
is
an
unthinking
reflexive
MAGA
gun
nut
whose
mind
has
been
pickled
by
the
right-wing
internet.
He’s
also
not
a
very
good
brother:
I
don’t
need
to
worry
too
much
about
insulting
him
because
he
doesn’t
even
care
enough
about
his
only
sibling
to
spend
six
minutes
reading
this
column
every
week.
I
have
not
cut
off
my
brother
from
all
contact.
I
just
don’t
go
out
of
my
way
to
initiate
it
anymore,
and
make
a
point
of
challenging
the
more
heinous
viewpoints
he
expresses
when
we
do
encounter
one
another.
Like
Ezra
Klein,
many
people
are
averse
to
politics
coming
between
relatives.
I
think
such
people
lack
charm.
I
have
many,
many
friends
who
have
helped
me
out
and
who
I
have
helped
out
much
more
than
has
been
the
case
with
my
brother.
I
have
many,
many
friends
who
I
enjoy
spending
time
with
more
than
my
brother.
I
have
many,
many
friends
whose
decisions
have
not
contributed
to
the
deaths
of
millions
of
people
due
to
support
for
Trump’s
second-term
policies,
to
say
nothing
of
the
countless
daily
nonfatal
miseries
his
supporters
continue
to
inflict.
To
spend
extra
time
with
someone
whose
company
you
do
not
generally
enjoy,
who
you
find
overall
to
be
an
odious
human
being,
just
because
you
share
some
DNA,
reeks
of
eugenics
to
me.
For
the
sake
of
my
aging
parents,
I
still
try
to
pretend
to
mostly
get
along
with
my
brother
for
the
three
or
four
days
a
year
we
see
each
other.
I
will
never
forgive
him
and
all
the
other
fake
patriots
out
there
for
what
I
see
as
being
a
traitor
to
the
country
and
the
Constitution,
though.
I
think
it
is
the
obligation
of
every
real
American
to
either
try
to
deradicalize
such
people,
or,
if
that
fails,
to
shame
them
back
into
the
shadows.
So,
as
Thanksgiving
approaches,
remember
you
are
not
obliged
to
spend
time
with
anyone
you
don’t
enjoy
spending
time
with.
You’re
not
helping
anyone
by
just
letting
MAGA
relatives
think
they’re
getting
away
with
it.
Finally,
as
for
deer
hunting
(the
Thanksgiving
of
rural
America),
I
can
attest
that
a
whiny
liberal
ATL
columnist
can
put
a
round
right
through
a
cervid
heart
at
100
yards
with
an
old
bolt
action
rifle
even
as
a
certified
gun
nut
range
instructor
with
a
multiple-thousand
dollar
AR-15
setup
registers
a
clean
miss.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].
Bonus
news
is
being
announced
left
and
right,
and
Biglaw
firms
are
busy
stuffing
their
associates’
bank
accounts
like
the
Thanksgiving
turkeys
they’ll
be
gobbling
down
next
week.
The
latest
bonus
news
comes
from
a
brand
new
megafirm
that
last
night
issued
its
first
round
of
bonuses
under
its
new
name.
McDermott
Will
&
Schulte
—
formed
from
the
August
2025
union
of
McDermott
Will
&
Emery
and
Schulte
Roth
&
Zabel
—
has
adopted
the
Cravath
bonus
scale,
as
well
as
the
Milbank
special
bonus
scale.
Here’s
what
that
looks
like
at
the
firm:
On
top
of
these
bonuses,
MWS
will
be
continuing
one
of
MWE’s
traditions
of
offering
bonuses
that
go
above
and
beyond
the
market
scale.
As
chairman
Ira
Coleman
notes
in
the
firm’s
announcement,
“We
remain
committed
to
being
top
of
market
in
all
that
we
do
and
are
pleased
to
note
that,
consistent
with
prior
years,
about
two-thirds
of
legacy
MWE
Associates
will
earn
above
the
Cravath
scale.”
We
suppose
legacy
SRZ
associates
—
who
were
formerly
able
to
cash
in
on
step-up
bonuses
for
their
extraordinary
contributions
—
will
be
able
to
get
in
on
that
action
next
year.
Bonuses
for
legacy
MWE
associates
will
be
paid
out
on
December
26,
2025,
while
bonuses
for
legacy
SRZ
associates
will
be
paid
out
on
January
16,
2026.
Congratulations
to
everyone
at
McDermott
Will
&
Schulte!
Remember
everyone,
we
depend
on
your
tips
to
stay
on
top
of
compensation
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
the
managing
editor
of
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 Bluesky, X/Twitter,
and Threads, or
connect
with
her
on LinkedIn.
When
it
comes
to
today’s
economy,
are
you
feeling
cautious?
Optimistic?
Cautiously
optimistic?
Perhaps
you’re
struggling
to
determine
the
most
effective
metrics
to
monitor,
or
considering
cost-cutting
measures,
or
looking
to
sharpen
your
leadership
skills.
Whatever
your
approach,
building
resilience
is
the
key
to
navigating
a
turbulent
economy.
Join
us
on
December
5th
at
1
p.m.
ET,
for
this
webinar
presented
by
our
friends
at
8am,
where
an
expert
panel
will
walk
you
through
today’s
emerging
management
considerations.
You’ll
learn:
>
Key
metrics
to
predict
your
business
environment
>
Avoiding
blanket
cost-cutting
and
building
agility
instead
>
Building
trust
and
loyalty
in
difficult
times
>
Small
actions
you
can
take
this
quarter
to
prepare
for
2026
Register
here
to
save
your
spot.