Boies Schiller Flexner is matching a new Big Law pay scale that significantly raises salaries, offering up to $435,000 for its most senior associates (Bloomberg Law).
On Monday, the firm made an announcement that places it among a growing list of law firms, such as Baker Botts, Kirkland & Ellis, Paul Hastings, McDermott Will & Emery, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Baker McKenzie, Dechert, Cleary Gottlieb, Hogan Lovells, Sidley Austin, Fried Frank, and Mayer Brown, all pledging to match the Cravath scale.
Managing partners from the firm disclosed that the new pay scale would be effective from January 1. The email notification conveyed the firm’s pride in maintaining associate compensation that compares favorably to, or exceeds, the average market pay.
Previously, in November 2023, Cravath Swaine & Moore announced that there would be a pay raise in the range of $225,000 to $420,000 for its seventh-year associates. This alignment was comparable with Milbank’s unexpected increase for junior attorneys, with a further $20,000 increment for senior associates. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison also announced that it would be paying its eighth-year associates $435,000.
In addition to elevated salary scales, Boies Schiller is also recognizing associates in good standing with bonuses being distributed this week. Available options provided to associates within the firm include opting into a smoothed market bonus methodology, or an alternate firm-specific compensation construct.
Interestingly, the firm informed that almost 87% of its associates received bonuses that were at least equal to, and in most cases exceeded, what they could have earned under the standardized market system. The bonusing scheme under market norms ranges from $15,000 to $115,000.
In an effort to reward market associates who exceed given thresholds of the creditable hour, the firm is providing additional categories of bonuses termed “extraordinary” and “extra-extraordinary”. The firm has noted several bonuses of $300,000 or more, with this year’s top bonus from the firm surpassing thirteen times the projected bonus under the market model.