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. more ›

Cravath just released their year-end bonuses for associates and it's looking...a lot like last year. Or this. Kicking off bonus season, the firm will be handing out $7,500 to first year associates. Given how much more firms have been billing, this payoff looks pretty sallow. Above The Law expects profits for partners to go up, however. That interlude of joy is just for the partners however, with this sad distinction for associates being drawn: more ›

Law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore has offered incoming associates $80,000 to defer their start date by a year—and not to work for a year. Plus, Cravath will pay up to $1,000/month in student loans and health insurance. Bloomberg News, which calls Cravath one of the country's most profitable law firms but notes its revenue is down 55% so far (vs. same period last year), adds, "Cravath, whose clients include Citigroup Inc., Time Warner Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., is also requiring its current summer associates who are offered full-time jobs to accept $65,000 to defer their start date from October 2010 for a year." Above the Law notes how Harvard Law School immediately sent out a note to its rising third-year students, with suggestions on what to do (hello, judicial clerkship). Earlier this year, Skadden Arps offered associates $80,000 for a year of paid leave. more ›