Whether they want to admit it or not, Biglaw firms are in the midst of a relatively slow-moving race to see which firms are willing to pay their associates at the top of the market rate. Above the Law is committed to documenting all of the compensation machinations, and the recent advent of spring special bonuses has kept us all busy.
Sidley has gotten into the bonus game. Yesterday, the elite firm — ranked number 6 in the Am Law 200 with $2,337,803,000 gross revenue in 2019 — announced they’d be matching the prevailing market rate (set by the good folks at Davis Polk). They’re going with June and November disbursements, with the second payment larded up in comparison to the more modest first payday.
Associates in good standing will receive bonuses according to the following schedule:
|
Class Year |
June 2021 |
November 2021 |
Total Bonus Potential |
|
2020 |
$4,500 |
$7,500 |
$12,000 |
|
2019 |
$6,000 |
$10,000 |
$16,000 |
|
2018 |
$12,000 |
$20,000 |
$32,000 |
|
2017 |
$16,500 |
$27,500 |
$44,000 |
|
2016 |
$19,500 |
$32,500 |
$52,000 |
|
2015 |
$22,200 |
$37,000 |
$59,200 |
|
2014+ |
$24,000 |
$40,000 |
$64,000 |
Special bonuses are also going out to associates outside the U.S. and special counsel, to be communicated directly. And, natch, “special bonus payments will not impact our usual year-end bonus process.”
Full memo is available on the next page.
Congrats!
Please help us help you when it comes to bonus news at other firms. As soon as your firm’s bonus memo comes out, please email it to us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus”) or text us (646-820-8477). 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, 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.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. 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).
