{"id":98798,"date":"2024-12-31T11:01:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T19:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2024\/12\/31\/baker-botts-baked-bogus-baseline-in-bonus-announcement\/"},"modified":"2024-12-31T11:01:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T19:01:30","slug":"baker-botts-baked-bogus-baseline-in-bonus-announcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2024\/12\/31\/baker-botts-baked-bogus-baseline-in-bonus-announcement\/","title":{"rendered":"Baker Botts Baked Bogus Baseline In Bonus Announcement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Their market \u2018matching\u2019 feels like stolen valor.<br \/>\nThe post Baker Botts Baked Bogus Baseline In Bonus Announcement appeared first on Above the Law.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-464622 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/document-search-magnifying-glass-brief-memo-document-review-briefs-memos-300x150.jpg?resize=300%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"document search magnifying glass brief memo document review briefs memos\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" title=\"\">Bit of bonus announcement irony: when we used Baker Botts as an example of the <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/12\/biglaw-firm-celebrates-holidays-by-encouraging-associates-to-burn-the-midnight-oil\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">type of bonus standard that Arnold &amp; Porter should have lived up to<\/a>, the comparison was a little too apples to apples. As it turns out, Baker Botts <em>also<\/em> pulled an hours threshold bait and switch \u2014 that can happen when you make the fatal mistake of taking people at their word! As it turns out, the firm\u2019s wording on the conditions for the special bonus was vague. As one tipster put it:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Individualized bonus memos came out last week and most people found in that memo out they weren\u2019t getting the special bonus. Turns out the requirement for the special bonus is 2000 CLIENT billable hours, rather than the regular 2000 bonus-eligible target which includes 1800 client billable and 200 pro bono, biz dev, etc. hours.\u00a0 The best part: we found out about this new requirement AFTER the billable year ended.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/biglaw\/comments\/1hqcvyj\/baker_botts_bonus_fiasco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Another posted to Reddit this morning<\/a> even more irate:<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1079286\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-31-at-12.40.01%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=1080%2C572&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Screenshot 2024-12-31 at 12.40.01\u202fPM\" width=\"1080\" height=\"572\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Consistent readers will know that it\u2019s even worse than the billable bait and switch HoLove pulled <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/12\/perkins-holove-special-bonus\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">before the bad PR got them to make right by their associates<\/a>. HoLove at <em>least<\/em> gave their associates more than a week to skip sleep and work if they were near the bonus threshold. Announcing the bonus thresholds after there\u2019s nothing associates can do to get in good standing is especially cruel.<\/p>\n<p>Way to ruin the holidays!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Earlier:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/11\/biglaw-firm-bakes-blessings-in-for-bigger-bonuses\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Biglaw Firm Bakes Blessings In For Bigger Bonuses<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/12\/biglaw-firm-celebrates-holidays-by-encouraging-associates-to-burn-the-midnight-oil\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Biglaw Firm Celebrates Holidays By \u2018Encouraging\u2019 Associates To Burn The Midnight Oil<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-772523 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Williams-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" title=\"\">Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=10222912314148913&amp;set=p.10222912314148913&amp;opaqueCursor=AboVBPzRKh4loie1LupyI7ltSvsaUWxURlMk_338xXb_BPhzMNPHbWfVDUsOyUH1mfvHQ4Bsipef989J-V0OyqhMZzHPafTw49vttxDh_no8xymRSSUssmh47qTzHAc13R0wzk8nPhgSylnSAYcBNbHjYDqZDqy5r0f7PwzCZw9T-0cakKMIin3XI0O8R5H5OJGAu4kJjGPAoZpgL6woU9lwoHiAjxAwAlpmdlyt6vHLJ1TVn2srkC3G4qBW5ANthJ_YNT3BUPCu2vu1ZIxiqYwXGLfMIxQR4cllUaB0Cja74ln1FHs3n-xyHe6MDtxln0-F4QJchox9nCaivB_xmSxw3FduERhPebhWj1MKJ20jeucGZ64jY6DdUn2d87dVgNlFE5qHvNEtfMpoEKx1096oFfqbZ9s71YVsbXxLIsRiiW54eLp4R7z3WHAKu8v8xeLIZt86UVU1iOaSlJ0n5tT3_VonQT6n2F0sIUSLY272cI-yjWxaUIr0Qj-1NQDFFcn9dkq8pYV2-o0M3LK2Qhr9LKt-Bk4MTGUZCkb4Kw6mgDmRCux3nhJqd2hdLd8LgTA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.academia.edu\/33296970\/Lets_Be_Frank_Parrhesia_and_the_Black_Comedic_Tradition\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor<\/a>, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#86e5f1efeaeaefe7ebf5c6e7e4e9f0e3f2eee3eae7f1a8e5e9eb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WritesForRent\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div id=\"shs-form-918f9998-ad56-4438-b7e2-7d3c4676b70e\" class=\"\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/bonus-time-Biglaw-bonuses-money-law-firm-bonus.jpg?resize=600%2C468&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Bonus Time\" width=\"600\" height=\"468\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Their market \u2018matching\u2019 feels like stolen valor. The post Baker Botts Baked Bogus Baseline In Bonus Announcement appeared first on Above the Law. Bit of bonus announcement irony: when we used Baker Botts as an example of the type of bonus standard that Arnold &amp; Porter should have lived up to, the comparison was a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":98799,"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":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/document-search-magnifying-glass-brief-memo-document-review-briefs-memos-uFpAwE.jpeg?fit=836%2C418&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98798","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"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}