Bonus season traditionally brings a wave of excitement across the legal community. However, for associates at Fox Rothschild, this year’s bonus announcement has left a lot to be desired. Despite its $668,015,000 gross revenue in 2022 and subsequently ranking at No. 71 in the most recent Am Law 100, Fox Rothschild’s bonuses were reported to be “awful.”
Trade insiders deliberated on the firm’s remuneration offerings, with criticism amplifying around how its salaries (ranging from $160,000 to $260,000) and hours-based bonuses are “well behind competitors”. The biting context of these criticisms becomes apparent when compared to the prevalent Milbank/Cravath bonus scale. This scale offers bonuses from $15,000 for the Class of 2023, ramping up to $115,000 for lawyers in the Class of 2016 and earlier.
The stark discrepancy in the bonuses is particularly noticeable for Fox Rothschild’s associates who billed significant hours but found themselves disproportionately under-compensated. For instance, it is reported that only first-years who billed 2025 hours or more, second-years who billed 2100 hours or more, and third-years who billed 2275 hours or more seemed to come out ahead on their bonus compensation.
Fox Rothschild is often typified as a work-life balanced firm. However, the realization of the financial shortfall in bonuses – and the mandatory billing hours required to earn less bonus money than their peers – leaves its associates lamenting the hidden costs of this “balance”.
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