Two more firms have announced bonus schedules. Fried Frank’s bonuses for New York associates look and feel a lot like the Sullivan & Cromwell bonuses, which were of course a very slight modification to the Cravat scale most firms have been using. Boies Schiller & Flexner, however, is paying bonuses well above the market rate.
Fried Frank’s New York associates will receive bonuses up to $35,000. These bonuses are based on a number of discretionary factors. The $35k is the same cap that Sullivan & Cromwell and the firms that have followed it are using, but firms on the Sullivan scale base bonuses strictly on seniority. No word yet on what associates outside the big apple can expect.
Ahhh but the bonuses at Boies… Let’s just say that the top bonus for second year associates at Boies is $70k. That should give some idea of the difference in scale between Boise bonuses and the market rate. Boies is using a formula based on revenue generated for the firm and base salary. Bonuses are equal to 30% of the revenue generated, minus base salary. Bill more hours, make more money. Bring in more clients, make more money. As if that’s not enough, Boies is also paying above market rate base salaries, with first years starting at $174k. Oh, and did we mention – first year associates who started after September of this year are getting a $5k bonus.
