Category: News Feeds

Tradespace,
the
San
Francisco-based
AI-powered
intellectual
property
management
platform,
has
acquired
Paragon,
an
AI
patent-drafting
startup
founded
by
three
Princeton
University
computer
science
students.

The
acquisition,
Tradespace
says,
makes
it
the
first
AI-powered
platform
to
support
the
complete
IP
lifecycle,
from
initial
invention
disclosure
through
patent
drafting,
prosecution,
portfolio
management
and
commercialization.

The
deal
brings
together
two
companies
with
complementary
missions
around
democratizing
access
to
patent
protection.

Tradespace
was
founded
in
2019
by
CEO

Alec
Sorensen,
who
formerly
founded
and
led
the
IP
practice
at
the
management
consulting
firm
Avascent,
and
CTO

Kapil
Israni,
an
engineer
and
entrepreneur,
while
Paragon
emerged
from
Princeton’s
computer
science
program
with
a
focus
on
addressing
the
accessibility
challenges
in
patent
drafting.

The
acquisition
was
announced
Nov.
10.

Paragon’s
Student
Founders

Paragon
CEO
and
co-founder

AbdurRahman
(AR)
Bhatti
first
envisioned
the
company
as
a
teenager
after
seeking
a
patent
for
his
own
invention,
and
by
his
sophomore
year
at
Princeton,
he
had
11
patents
to
his
name.

As
AI
technology
matured,
he
assembled
two
of
his
Princeton
classmates,
chief
technology
officer

Ethan
Haque
and
chief
engineer

Claire
Shin,
to
create
a
platform
that
would
make
professional-grade
patent
drafting
more
accessible.

Princeton
University’s
Office
of
Innovation
supported
the
startup
and
offered
the
student
founders
access
to
past
invention
disclosures
to
train
their
algorithm,
allowing
them
to
test
their
drafting
capabilities
by
comparing
outputs
to
patents
that
were
actually
filed,
according
to

Craig
Arnold,
Princeton’s
vice
dean
of
innovation
and
university
innovation
officer.

“In
line
with
our
educational
mission,
our
Technology
Licensing
team
recognized
the
potential
benefit
of
an
AI
patent-drafting
platform
and
offered
the
student
founders
access
to
a
curated
number
of
past
invention
disclosures
to
train
their
algorithm,”
Arnold
said.

Haque
and
Shin
graduated
from
Princeton
last
spring,
while
Bhatti
is
set
to
graduate
in
the
fall.
All
three
are
joining
Tradespace,
with
Bhatti
taking
on
the
role
of
head
of
product
for
patent
drafting,
while
Haque
and
Shin
join
as
senior
members
of
the
AI
research
team.

The
Patent-Drafting
Bottleneck

The
acquisition
targets
a
major
pain
point
in
the
IP
ecosystem,
Tradespace
says.
Traditional
patent
drafting
can
take
months
and
cost
tens
of
thousands
of
dollars,
creating
a
bottleneck
that
prevents
many
innovations
from
being
protected.
This
is
particularly
challenging
as
organizations
face
mounting
pressure
to
accelerate
innovation
while
managing
legal
costs.

Using
AI
agents,
Paragon
generates
accurate,
defensible
patent
drafts
with
full
traceability
to
source
materials,
giving
R&D
and
IP
teams
confidence
that
every
claim,
citation
and
technical
detail
can
be
verified
and
defended.

The
company
says
that
the
platform
is
distinct
from
other
AI
patent
tools
because
it
keeps
users
in
control
at
every
decision
point,
with
verification
checkpoints
designed
to
maintain
professional
IP
standards
—
an
important
factor
for
legal
professionals
who
may
have
concerns
about
trusting
AI
with
high-stakes
work.

“When
I
founded
Tradespace,
the
vision
was
clear:
empower
organizations
to
develop,
protect,
and
commercialize
ideas
at
a
much
greater
scale,”
said
Sorensen.
“In
acquiring
Paragon,
we
are
investing
not
only
in
democratizing
the
patent
drafting
process,
but
in
building
an
approach
to
legal
AI
that
works
alongside
IP
teams
with
the
same
levels
of
trust,
transparency
and
expertise
they
would
get
from
an
attorney.”

Tradespace’s
Evolution

Sorensen
co-founded
the
company
in
2017
after
spending
years
in
management
consulting,
working
with
Fortune
500
companies,
private
equity
firms
and
government
labs
to
analyze
and
commercialize
their
IP.

The
company
announced
$4.2
million
in
seed
funding
in
November
2023,
led
by
Eniac
Ventures
with
participation
from
Abstract
Ventures,
Amplo
VC,
and
Scrum
Ventures,
bringing
its
total
funding
to
$5.2
million.

That
funding
round
coincided
with
the
release
of
its
AI-powered
IP
Management
Platform,
which
the
company
said
was
trained
on
the
largest
dataset
of
open-source
and
proprietary
IP
data.

At
the
time
of
that
2023
funding
round,
Tradespace
said
it
had
generated
over
$100
million
in
IP
commercialization
revenue
for
customers
including
America’s
Frontier
Fund,
BAE
Systems,
and
the
Department
of
Defense.
Other
clients
of
the
company
include
AGC,
leading
research
institutions
like
the
Department
of
Energy,
MITRE,
and
Northeastern
University,
as
well
as
companies
like
8×8.

With
Paragon
integrated
into
its
platform,
Tradespace
plans
to
draft
10,000
patents
through
the
platform
in
the
next
18
months
—
an
ambitious
target
that
signals
the
company’s
confidence
in
scaling
AI-assisted
patent
drafting.

For
Bhatti,
the
acquisition
represents
the
best
path
to
maximize
impact.
“For
me,
it’s
always
just
been
about
where
this
technology
is
going
to
serve
the
most
people,”
he
said.

“We
wanted
to
make
patent
drafting
accessible
to
innovators
who
needed
it.
Joining
Tradespace
makes
sense
as
a
natural
fit
—
we
get
to
integrate
as
a
link
in
the
chain
of
what
is
already
a
really
strong
product.”

The
Bottom
Line

Tradespace’s
acquisition
of
Paragon
is
interesting
in
and
of
itself,
but
also
because
it
reflects
three
broader
trends
related
to
AI
in
legal:

• The
  growing
  number
  of
  companies
  that
  are
  moving
  beyond
  point
  solutions
  toward
  more-comprehensive
  platforms
  that
  address
  entire
  workflows.
• The
  changing
  economics
  of
  patent
  protection,
  whereby
  AI
  can
  lower
  the
  cost
  of
  patent
  drafting
  and
  potentially
  open
  patent
  protection
  to
  a
  broader
  range
  of
  inventors.
• The
  importance
  of
  incorporating
  transparency
  and
  traceability
  in
  the
  design
  of
  AI
  products,
  to
  address
  legal
  professionals’
  concerns.

There
is
also
the
human-in-the-loop
issue,
which
is
why
it
is
notable
that
Paragon
says
its
agents
work
alongside
users
and
keep
them
in
control
at
every
decision
point.

“This
human-AI
collaboration
addresses
the
legal
industry’s
biggest
concern:
trusting
AI
with
high-stakes
professional
work,”
the
company
says.

The
spotlight
is
on
Jeffrey
Bronheim,
the
former
London
managing
partner
of
Cohen
&
Gresser,
who
is
now
under
investigation
by
the
U.K.’s
Solicitors
Regulation
Authority
(SRA).
And
if
you
thought
this
was
going
to
be
a
mild
HR
hiccup,
buckle
up:
according
to

reporting
from
Law.com,
the
allegations
include
sexual
harassment,
repeated
inappropriate
conduct,
and
a
pattern
of
behavior
that
made
multiple
women
at
the
firm
uncomfortable.

Sources
told
Law.com
that
Bronheim
allegedly
engaged
in
sexual
harassment
of
a
staff
member
on
multiple
occasions
between
2022
and
2023.
The
conduct
reportedly
included
both
verbally
inappropriate
comments
and
physically
inappropriate
behavior.
There
are
also
claims
that
Bronheim
made
unwanted
physical
contact,
purchased
or
discussed
“items
of
a
personal
nature,”
and
acted
inappropriately
toward
other
female
staff.
Several
women
also
reported
feeling
excluded
from
work-related
social
gatherings
because
of
his
behavior
—
which
is
certainly
one
way
to
poison
a
workplace
culture.

According
to
a
spokesperson,
when
they
firm
learned
of
the
allegations
they
“initiated
a
thorough,
independent
investigation,
which
included
interviews
of
every
current
employee
and
partner
with
knowledge
of
the
facts
and
circumstances,”
and
he
was
“immediately
removed
as firm managing
partner.”

The
spokesperson
continued
that
Bronheim
“was
instructed
to
work remotely,
and was
restricted
from
attending
in-person
firm
activities
while
the
matter
was
under
review,”
and
he
was
required
to
“undergo
one-on-one
sensitivity
coaching.”
 
“[Bronheim]
subsequently
chose
not
to
return
to
the
office
as
a
partner
and
instead
requested
to
transition
to
an
external
part-time
consulting
role,
which
the
firm’s
management
accepted,”
the
firm’s
statement
read. 

But
Bronheim
insists
it
wasn’t
a
demotion
from
partner,
but
a
career
choice
he
made.
As
Bronhem
told
Law.com,
“In
fact,
the
investigation
concluded
and
I
was
scheduled
to
return
to
the
office.
Instead,
I
decided
to
resign
my
London
partnership
while
remaining
a
part-time
consultant
to
the
New
York
office
of
the
firm
and pursuing
other
interests
in
London.”

However,
this
chapter
of
Bronheim’s
story
isn’t
over.
There’s
still
the
matter
of
the
SRA
investigation.
Cohen
&
Gresser
self-reported
to
the
regulators
and
turned
over
their
250-page
report
on
the
matter.
An
SRA
spokesperson
said,
“We
are
investigating
this
matter,
before
deciding
on next steps.”

---

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
bonus
season
is
in
full
swing,
with
firms
stepping
in
left
and
right
to
match

Cravath’s
year-end
bonuses
and

Milbank’s
special
bonuses,
but
things
are
about
to
get
even
hotter,
because
one
of
the
boutiques
is
here
to
play.
This
firm
went
over
the
top
in
a
major
way
—
including
on
their
bigger
and
better
special
bonuses.

Yesterday
afternoon,
D.C.-based
litigation
boutique
Wilkinson
Stekloff announced
year-end
bonuses
that
are
150%
of
market
bonuses.
On
top
of
those
bonuses,
let’s
not
forget
that
the
firm
announced

their
own
set
of
special
bonuses
back
in
April
—
ranging
from
$25,000
to
$60,000
—
before
Milbank’s
special
summer
bonuses
were
even
in
play.
This
is
what
the
firm’s
incredibly
generous
bonus
scale
looks
like:

Class Year	Year-End Bonus	Spring Bonus	Total Bonus
2025	$22,500	N/A	$22,500
2024	$30,000	$25,000	$55,000
2023	$45,000	$30,000	$75,000
2022	$86,250	$35,000	$121,250
2021	$112,500	$40,000	$152,500
2020	$135,000	$45,000	$180,000
2019	$157,500	$50,000	$207,500
2018	$172,500	$55,000	$227,500
2017+	$172,500	$60,000	$232,500

Associates
at
Wilkinson
will
be
earning
$1,500
to
$87,500+
more
than
those
at
Biglaw
firms
on
the
market
bonus
scale.
Now


THESE
are
big-time
bonuses!

“As
we
approach
the
firm’s
10^th year
anniversary
in
January,
the
firm
continues
to
grow
and
evolve
while
staying
true
to
its
founding
principles
of
providing
exceptional
client
service
in
high
stakes
litigation
and
developing
the
next
generation
of
trial
lawyers,”
Brian
Stekloff,
the
firm’s
founding
partner,
shared
in
a
message
to
all
of
his
colleagues
at
the
firm.
“We
are
deeply
proud
of
the
results
you
deliver,
including
in
many
impactful
pro
bono
matters.”

Associates
will
receive
their
bonuses
on
December
15.
Counsel
bonuses
will
be
communicated
separately.

Congratulations
to
everyone
at
Wilkinson
Stekloff!

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.

*
“If
you
kill
this
witness,
the
case
will
be
dismissed,”
advised
attorney.
Man,
these
MPRE
hypos
are
getting
super
easy.
[Toronto
Star]

*
Trump
signs
bill
to
release
the
Epstein
files.
Unclear
if
he
drew
a
woman’s
curves
around
it
before
signing
this
time.
[Reuters]

*
Texas
governor
demands
action
on
Sharia
Law,
so
you
know
it’s
a
bad
news
cycle
for
him.
[KXAN]

*
White
House
suggests
executive
order
to
block
state
AI
regulations,
which
is
not
how
the
Constitution
works.
[Axios]

*
State
AGs
want
social
media
addiction
handled
in
one
trial
so
they
aren’t
constantly
scrolling
for
updates.
[Law360]

*
Harvard
releases
digitized
collection
of
Nuremberg
Trials.
[Law.com]

*
Shilo
Sanders
sued
by
Barnes
&
Thornburg
for
unpaid
bills.
[NY
Post]

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].