Biglaw
firms
continue
to
match
Cravath’s year-end
bonuses and
Milbank’s
special
bonuses,
but
it’s
the
boutique
firms
where
associates
will
really
have
the
opportunity
to
stuff
their
wallets.
This
bonus
season,
boutique
firms
have
truly
spread
the
wealth
among
associates,
by
not
just
meeting
the
market
bonus
scale,
but
oftentimes
completely
blowing
it
away.
The
latest
boutique
firm
to
hand
out
unbelievable
bonuses
to
associates
is Bursor
&
Fisher.
Sources
at
the
firm
have
told
us
that Scott
A.
Bursor,
the
firm’s
founder,
announced
bonuses
last
week
during
B&F’s
year-end
reviews,
which
were
held
at
the
Aria
Resort
&
Casino in
Las
Vegas.
All
lawyers
and
staff
from
the
firm’s
four
offices
in
New
York,
California,
and
Florida
were
flown
to
Las
Vegas
and
put
up
at
the
resort
for
four
nights.
Bonuses
at
the
firm
are
not
lockstep,
and
are
instead
based
on
objective
criteria
like
business
origination
and
revenue
—
and
at
every
level,
they
were
well
above
the
Cravath/Milbank
scale
(which
ranges
from
$15,000
to
$115,000,
plus
special
bonuses
ranging
from
$6,000
to
$25,000,
in
case
you’ve
forgotten).
So,
how
big
of
bonuses
are
we
talking?
We’ve
been
told
that
lawyers
at
the
firm
were
very
handsomely
rewarded
for
their
work,
with
bonuses
ranging
from
$50,000
for
first-year
associates
to
$100,000
or
more
for
second-year
associates.
This
year’s
top
bonus
went
to
an
associate
with
three
years
of
experience
at
the
firm,
who
took
home
a
bonus
that
exceeded
$770,000.
Yes,
you
read
that
correctly
—
one
lucky
associate
at
this
firm
received
a
bonus
of
more
than
three
quarters
of
a
million
dollars.
A
very
big
congratulations
to
everyone
at
Bursor
&
Fisher.
Associates
at
the
firm
must
be
absolutely
thrilled
with
their
gigantic
bonuses!
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.