As
Biglaw
firms
jockey
to
position
themselves
as
compensation
leaders
—
or
at
least
avoid
being
labeled
as
laggards
—
associates
across
the
Am
Law
100
continue
to
refresh
their
inboxes,
hoping
for
a
market
match
of
the
Cravath/Milbank
scale
for
year-end
and
special
bonuses.
At
some
firms,
however,
associates
face
the
return
of
black-box
bonuses,
leaving
many
wondering
how,
exactly,
their
payouts
were
decided.
One
firm
that
uses
a
black-box
structure
recently
announced
bonuses,
and
thankfully,
it
seems
to
be
a
match.
The
firm
we’re
speaking
about
is
Texas-based
Haynes
Boone
—
a
firm
that
brought
in
$635,840,000
gross
revenue
in
2024,
putting
it
at
No.
86
on
the
Am
Law
100.
Last
week,
the
firm
announced
individualized
bonuses
across
all
class
years,
and
sources
tell
us
that
so
long
as
attorneys
were
able
to
hit
2,000
hours,
they
received
a
market
match.
For
those
who
don’t
recall,
here’s
what
a
market
match
looks
like
at
most
firms
(give
or
take
the
inclusion
of
the
Class
of
2025):
-
Class
of
2024
–
$20,000
/
$6,000 -
Class
of
2023
–
$30,000
/
$10,000 -
Class
of
2022
–
$57,500
/
$15,000 -
Class
of
2021
–
$75,000
/
$20,000 -
Class
of
2020
–
$90,000
/
$25,000 -
Class
of
2019
–
$105,000
/
$25,000 -
Class
of
2018+
–
$115,000
/
$25,000
Here’s
some
additional
explanation
on
Haynes
Boone’s
bonus
compensation
strategy:
The
firm’s
memo
goes
on
to
note
that
those
who
don’t
receive
bonuses
on
scale
for
their
class
may
be
able
to
receive
a
“catch-up”
bonus
if
their
performance
later
meets
standards.
For
a
firm
that
puts
its
cash
inside
of
a
black
box,
this
is
about
as
close
to
transparency
as
you
can
get.
Congratulations
to
everyone
at
Haynes
Boone!
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
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o