To actually qualify for the bonus, an associate needs to be on pace for 2,000 credited hours for the year, measured as of June 30, a notably higher bar than several boutique firms have required for their own summer bonuses this cycle. Associates also need to be actively employed and \u201cin good standing\u201d as of the payment date, and critically, must not have given or received notice of resignation or termination as of that date. So, you know\u2026 don\u2019t get any ideas about cashing this check on your way out the door.<\/p>\n
The \u201cBonus Amounts\u201d portion makes clear that hitting 2,000 hours is merely a threshold requirement \u2014 it \u201cdoes not guarantee a particular bonus amount.\u201d The actual number is left entirely to the firm\u2019s discretion, based on a list of factors that includes credited hours, quality of work, responsiveness, judgment, client service, teamwork, reliability, ownership of matters, contribution to firm systems and culture, overall firm performance, and, just in case they missed something, \u201cany other factors the firm deems relevant.\u201d You can read the full memo below.<\/p>\n
None of which is to say the bonus itself isn\u2019t real money. $25,000 at the high end is a meaningful number, expected to be paid on or around July 15. Associates billing 2,000-plus hours and doing strong work will get paid for it. The memo is just unusually candid about reserving every possible right while doing so.<\/p>\n
Congratulations to the associates at SMB Law Group on the bonus.<\/p>\n
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates. When your firm announces a bonus or match, please text us (646-820-8477)<\/strong> or email us (subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Bonus\/Matches\u201d). Memo preferred, photo works just fine.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Litigation Boutiques Aren\u2019t The Only Ones Getting In On The Summer Bonus Action<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Not every summer bonus announcement comes from a litigation boutique with nine-figure verdicts on the wall. Sometimes it comes from a corporate firm in Coppell, Texas, that represents people buying and selling dry cleaners and HVAC companies.<\/p>\n SMB Law Group<\/a> \u2014 a national corporate firm built by former Biglaw attorneys to serve small and medium-sized business buyers, sellers, and operators \u2014 sent associates a memo dated June 30, 2026, announcing a \u201cone-time special summertime bonus\u201d ranging from $10,000 to $25,000. The firm describes the bonus as recognition for \u201cexceptional work, ownership, and client service delivered through the first half of 2026,\u201d and frames it, accurately enough, as consistent with the broader market trend of summer compensation announcements that has been sweeping the legal industry since Milbank raised associate salaries in early June<\/a>.<\/p>\n To actually qualify for the bonus, an associate needs to be on pace for 2,000 credited hours for the year, measured as of June 30, a notably higher bar than several boutique firms have required for their own summer bonuses this cycle. Associates also need to be actively employed and \u201cin good standing\u201d as of the payment date, and critically, must not have given or received notice of resignation or termination as of that date. So, you know\u2026 don\u2019t get any ideas about cashing this check on your way out the door.<\/p>\n The \u201cBonus Amounts\u201d portion makes clear that hitting 2,000 hours is merely a threshold requirement \u2014 it \u201cdoes not guarantee a particular bonus amount.\u201d The actual number is left entirely to the firm\u2019s discretion, based on a list of factors that includes credited hours, quality of work, responsiveness, judgment, client service, teamwork, reliability, ownership of matters, contribution to firm systems and culture, overall firm performance, and, just in case they missed something, \u201cany other factors the firm deems relevant.\u201d You can read the full memo below.<\/p>\n None of which is to say the bonus itself isn\u2019t real money. $25,000 at the high end is a meaningful number, expected to be paid on or around July 15. Associates billing 2,000-plus hours and doing strong work will get paid for it. The memo is just unusually candid about reserving every possible right while doing so.<\/p>\n Congratulations to the associates at SMB Law Group on the bonus.<\/p>\n Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of compensation updates. When your firm announces a bonus or match, please text us (646-820-8477)<\/strong> or email us (subject line: \u201c[Firm Name] Bonus\/Matches\u201d). Memo preferred, photo works just fine.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Summer SMBonus Memorandum (6-30-2026)<\/a>Download<\/a><\/p>\n Not every summer bonus announcement comes from a litigation boutique with nine-figure verdicts on the wall. Sometimes it comes from a corporate firm in Coppell, Texas, that represents people buying and selling dry cleaners and HVAC companies. SMB Law Group \u2014 a national corporate firm built by former Biglaw attorneys to serve small and medium-sized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":155602,"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-155631","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\/2026\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-77Wcz5.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155631","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=155631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/12\/Texas-bonus-money-cash-300x199.jpg?resize=300%2C199&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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\nKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"