Big Law Bonuses Holding Steady But Now Come With More Strings

Big Law’s annual bonus season is expected to be light on fireworks when firms soon start announcing extra pay for associates.

Top firms are likely to match the same bonus scale used in the past two years—from up to $115,000 for the most senior associates—according to industry observers. The recruiting wars that boosted the scale in 2021 have since halted as corporate work continues to be slow and some firms have shed jobs to cut costs.

Even those who laid off associates last year and others whose profits plummeted are likely to match the bonus scale, said Kate Reder Sheikh, ...