Law Firm Bonuses Looking Uniform

Last week, Cravath kicked off bonus season for their associates and now Weil Gotschal (with over 1,200 attorneys) has announced that associates “will be paid 2010 bonuses that are commensurate with bonuses paid by peer firms.” So we're guessing that means it's going to exactly match Cravath, unless another firm decides to best them. We doubt that will happen, but we'd love to see a bonus war! Let's see some escalation! Moving on, here is the Weil Gotschal bonus memo in it's glorious, tepid entirety.

From: Wolf, Barry Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 To: US Associates Subject: Associate Bonuses
The Management Committee has decided that Associate bonuses will be paid on December 23, 2010. The firm remains committed to compensating Associates at market rates. Accordingly, Associates will be paid 2010 bonuses that are commensurate with bonuses paid by peer firms. Evaluation meetings will take place in December 2010. The Management Committee will re-evaluate the timing of bonus payments next year.

Additionally, the Management Committee has determined that starting in 2011, there will no longer be a Distinguished bonus, which is a bonus in excess of bonuses paid by peer firms.

The Firm recognizes the importance of the Associate evaluation process. We will continue to focus on providing associates with timely and thorough feedback and providing a culture where all Associates have opportunities for professional development.

Barry M. Wolf
Executive Partner
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Bilal Khan in News on November 29, 2010 4:42 PM

Comments [rss]

OSN!

Yes, lawyers and CPAs have no connection to the financial services industry and the mega-fraud that was and is occurring in it. Yeah, that's a good one. That's the ticket.

TheOtherBob

You know, it's interesting -- but on some level they really didn't have a connection. The exotic instruments the banks created weren't really difficult on a legal level -- so in a lot of cases there was no need to bring in bigshot lawyers. And the fraud was routine, low-level stuff -- not the sort of thing where you pay $1000 an hour white-shoe types to paper the transaction. There were lawyers involved in that sort of transaction, but most of them weren't the big firm lawyers we're talking about here.

Oh don't get me wrong -- the big firms' hands aren't entirely clean, and some of them likely pitched in on designing some of the weirder things that the banks got up to (or at least blessing them). I'm just saying that you might be surprised how much of this went on entirely within the banks, with no help from big legal or accounting firms.

EastRiver

Law firms are deeper in it than you think. Virtually everything on Wall Street gets run past a lawyer before it's offered - regardless of how complicated it is. I know a guy whose wife did nothing but mortgage backed securities for several years through 2008 and she lost her job because there was nothing left for her to do after Lehman collapsed. She didn't work for Cravath or Skadden but it wasn't Jacoby & Myers either.

Mr Mel

I don't remember any Law Firms being bailed out.

CedDi80

How does this have anything to do with anything Gothamist? Who cares what lawyers are getting for bonuses?

TheOtherBob

It's a major New York industry, these are New York firms, this is a New York blog -- that's the connection.

And, yeah, for some reason people care. Maybe most internet blog readers are washed up law students? I don't know -- but it wouldn't surprise me.

Mordicai

Well, wait, these guys didn't tank the economy, did they? I mean, hey, I'm all for taxing the heck out of the wealthiest few for the benefit of the rest (basic Spock logic, guys) but however they get paid isn't really going to send me into a froth.