This bonus season has been a mad dash to match the Cravath/Milbank year-end and special bonuses that have become the market standard, and as it turns out, we’re just now hearing about one of the early adopters of the prevailing bonus scale. Back in November, one of Biglaw’s most successful firms gave associates a lot more to be thankful for, just before Thanksgiving.
Sources tell us that on November 24, Morgan Lewis — a firm that brought in $3,098,511,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 10 on the Am Law 100 — announced that it would be offering the prevailing market rate for both year-end and special bonuses. On top of all of that cash, we’ve been told that associates with outstanding performance are eligible for additional “extraordinary” above-market bonuses. Here’s what the year-end and special bonuses look like at the firm:
- Class of 2024 – $20,000 / $6,000
- Class of 2023 – $30,000 / $10,000
- Class of 2022 – $57,500 / $15,000
- Class of 2021 – $75,000 / $20,000
- Class of 2020 – $90,000 / $25,000
- Class of 2019 – $105,000 / $25,000
- Class of 2018+ – $115,000 / $25,000
Associates at the firm will see their bonuses come January 2026. Congratulations to everyone at Morgan Lewis!
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates, so when your firm announces or matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus/Matches”). 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 (which is the alert list we also use for salary announcements), 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. Thanks for your help!
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
The post Top 10 Biglaw Firm Offered Market Bonuses Early And Under The Radar appeared first on Above the Law.
This bonus season has been a mad dash to match the Cravath/Milbank year-end and special bonuses that have become the market standard, and as it turns out, we’re just now hearing about one of the early adopters of the prevailing bonus scale. Back in November, one of Biglaw’s most successful firms gave associates a lot more to be thankful for, just before Thanksgiving.
Sources tell us that on November 24, Morgan Lewis — a firm that brought in $3,098,511,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 10 on the Am Law 100 — announced that it would be offering the prevailing market rate for both year-end and special bonuses. On top of all of that cash, we’ve been told that associates with outstanding performance are eligible for additional “extraordinary” above-market bonuses. Here’s what the year-end and special bonuses look like at the firm:
- Class of 2024 – $20,000 / $6,000
- Class of 2023 – $30,000 / $10,000
- Class of 2022 – $57,500 / $15,000
- Class of 2021 – $75,000 / $20,000
- Class of 2020 – $90,000 / $25,000
- Class of 2019 – $105,000 / $25,000
- Class of 2018+ – $115,000 / $25,000
Associates at the firm will see their bonuses come January 2026. Congratulations to everyone at Morgan Lewis!
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates, so when your firm announces or matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Bonus/Matches”). 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 (which is the alert list we also use for salary announcements), 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. Thanks for your help!
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
