{"id":113016,"date":"2025-04-01T15:42:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T23:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/01\/biglaw-firm-delays-paying-raises-and-bonuses-leaving-lawyers-wondering-where-their-money-is\/"},"modified":"2025-04-01T15:42:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T23:42:55","slug":"biglaw-firm-delays-paying-raises-and-bonuses-leaving-lawyers-wondering-where-their-money-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/01\/biglaw-firm-delays-paying-raises-and-bonuses-leaving-lawyers-wondering-where-their-money-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Biglaw Firm Delays Paying Raises And Bonuses, Leaving Lawyers Wondering Where Their Money Is"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Try as it might, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith can\u2019t seem to keep its name out of headlines that cast the firm in a negative light. <\/p>\n

In recent years, the firm suffered a defection en masse, when\u00a0more than 100 attorneys<\/a>\u00a0left to join a (now defunct) boutique firm. Shortly thereafter, Robert \u201cBob\u201d Lewis, the firm\u2019s founder and then chair, decided to\u00a0step down<\/a>. At the time, Lewis was one of the longest-serving chairs of any Am Law 100 firm. Lewis then decided to retire early<\/a>, taking several of his family members with him. Now, the bad news has hit the firm\u2019s compensation systems \u2014 and lawyers are none too pleased.<\/p>\n

Back in February, Lewis Brisbois promised lawyers that change was coming to their salaries and bonuses as the firm attempted to leave its drama in the past. Chief Operating Officer Rich Davis noted in an email (available on the next page) that because the firm had implemented \u201cnew processes\u201d to \u201crecogniz[e] strong performance and reward[] deserving talent,\u201d that hours-based formulaic bonuses (typically paid in the February 15 pay period) would be delayed by one month, while merit salary increases and discretionary bonuses would be paid out on time during the March 31 pay period. <\/p>\n

The March 31 pay period has now come and gone, but not all Lewis Brisbois attorneys have received their salary increases and discretionary bonuses. In another email from Davis (available on the next page), he states that changes to compensation \u201cpresented some logistical challenges\u201d that impacted payment timing. We\u2019ve been told that this email was received by lawyers across the country, ranging from California to the Midwest to Florida. Here\u2019s an excerpt from that email:<\/p>\n

\n

Regrettably, the base raise and discretionary bonuses for attorneys in your office were not able to be processed in time to be reflected in the March 31st pay cycle. These amounts will be reflected in your checks for the April 15th pay cycle. The base pay increases will be retroactive to January 1, so this unfortunate delay will impact the timing of payments, but not the net amounts received.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, insiders at the firm tell Above the Law that only a limited number of attorneys at the firm have received their compensation memos, meaning that very few people know what their salary increases will be. \u201cWhat a disaster,\u201d said one of our sources. \u201cWhy would any recent law grad or lateral want to come to a firm that pays bonuses and raises late?\u201d<\/p>\n

Best of luck to associates, of counsel, and nonequity partners at the firm who have been kept (im)patiently waiting on their raises and bonuses. We certainly hope lawyers at the firm receive their money on Tax Day.<\/p>\n

(Flip to the next page to read the emails sent by Lewis Brisbois COO Rich Davis.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0email us<\/a>\u00a0(subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Bonus\/Matches\u201d). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don\u2019t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019d like to sign up for ATL\u2019s 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\u2019t need to do anything. You\u2019ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for your help!<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post Biglaw Firm Delays Paying Raises And Bonuses, Leaving Lawyers Wondering Where Their Money Is<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Try as it might, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith can\u2019t seem to keep its name out of headlines that cast the firm in a negative light. <\/p>\n

In recent years, the firm suffered a defection en masse, when\u00a0more than 100 attorneys<\/a>\u00a0left to join a (now defunct) boutique firm. Shortly thereafter, Robert \u201cBob\u201d Lewis, the firm\u2019s founder and then chair, decided to\u00a0step down<\/a>. At the time, Lewis was one of the longest-serving chairs of any Am Law 100 firm. Lewis then decided to retire early<\/a>, taking several of his family members with him. Now, the bad news has hit the firm\u2019s compensation systems \u2014 and lawyers are none too pleased.<\/p>\n

Back in February, Lewis Brisbois promised lawyers that change was coming to their salaries and bonuses as the firm attempted to leave its drama in the past. Chief Operating Officer Rich Davis noted in an email (available on the next page) that because the firm had implemented \u201cnew processes\u201d to \u201crecogniz[e] strong performance and reward[] deserving talent,\u201d that hours-based formulaic bonuses (typically paid in the February 15 pay period) would be delayed by one month, while merit salary increases and discretionary bonuses would be paid out on time during the March 31 pay period. <\/p>\n

The March 31 pay period has now come and gone, but not all Lewis Brisbois attorneys have received their salary increases and discretionary bonuses. In another email from Davis (available on the next page), he states that changes to compensation \u201cpresented some logistical challenges\u201d that impacted payment timing. We\u2019ve been told that this email was received by lawyers across the country, ranging from California to the Midwest to Florida. Here\u2019s an excerpt from that email:<\/p>\n

\n

Regrettably, the base raise and discretionary bonuses for attorneys in your office were not able to be processed in time to be reflected in the March 31st pay cycle. These amounts will be reflected in your checks for the April 15th pay cycle. The base pay increases will be retroactive to January 1, so this unfortunate delay will impact the timing of payments, but not the net amounts received.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, insiders at the firm tell Above the Law that only a limited number of attorneys at the firm have received their compensation memos, meaning that very few people know what their salary increases will be. \u201cWhat a disaster,\u201d said one of our sources. \u201cWhy would any recent law grad or lateral want to come to a firm that pays bonuses and raises late?\u201d<\/p>\n

Best of luck to associates, of counsel, and nonequity partners at the firm who have been kept (im)patiently waiting on their raises and bonuses. We certainly hope lawyers at the firm receive their money on Tax Day.<\/p>\n

(Flip to the next page to read the emails sent by Lewis Brisbois COO Rich Davis.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0email us<\/a>\u00a0(subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Bonus\/Matches\u201d). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don\u2019t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019d like to sign up for ATL\u2019s 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\u2019t need to do anything. You\u2019ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for your help!<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/strong> 2<\/a>Next \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Try as it might, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith can\u2019t seem to keep its name out of headlines that cast the firm in a negative light. In recent years, the firm suffered a defection en masse, when\u00a0more than 100 attorneys\u00a0left to join a (now defunct) boutique firm. Shortly thereafter, Robert \u201cBob\u201d Lewis, the firm\u2019s founder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":113017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Staci-Zaretsky-EWHSar.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}