Year-End Bonuses See Some Dramatic Rises For 2014.
As reported in the December 20, 2014 issue of The Economist, starting salaries for first year associates at large American law firms has been stuck at $160,000/year since 2007. However, in the waning months of 2014, year-end bonuses have dramatically risen for associate attorneys—despite being very flat over recent years. For example, first year associates at Simpson Thacher got $15,000 bonuses (up 50% from 2013) and seven-year associates got $100,000 bonuses (double last year’s sums). Several other big firms followed suit (forgive the pun, but that is what the article said too). Even with this surge in bonuses, they were only a third of the same bonuses paid out in 2007. Much of the bonuses appear to be attributable to increased mergers and acquisition work. The article also indicates that starting salaries have not been raised for first year associates by most large U.S. firms. Curiously enough, the article also indicates that the legal sector may be “an industry on the brink of disruption.”
