NY Boutique Axinn Gives Associates Bonuses Reaching $25,000 (1)

New York-founded boutique Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider is handing out special bonuses ranging as high as $25,000, as small law firms outpace the awards handed out by large rivals.

The bonuses of at least $10,000 will be paid by July 15, according to a memo firm leaders shared with staff. “The firm continues to evaluate market developments and will make adjustments where appropriate, consistent with our investment in exceptional talent,” the memo said.

The special awards follow Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider’s announcement last September of year-end bonuses ranging up to $25,000 from a minimum of $6,000, along with a salary bump bringing first-year associates to at least $250,000.

Leading litigation boutiques have blown past the scales set by the industry’s biggest players in recent years for bonuses handed out mid-year. Their bigger budgets are largely due to associate rosters that are a fraction of those at the largest firms.

Litigation boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee announced earlier this month that it was awarding special bonuses of between $10,000 to $25,000 based on seniority. Selendy Gay said late last year it was giving its associates bonuses between $17,250 and $132,250 and matching Big Law’s special bonus offerings of between $6,000 to $25,000.

Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider, founded in the late 1990s by lawyers from Wall Street firms, touts its casework in focusing on antitrust, intellectual property, and high-stakes litigation. The firm has represented Tyson Foods Inc. in allegations that the company and others fixed the price of pork, and it served as antitrust counsel for VMware in Broadcom Inc.’s acquisition of that company.

In addition to its office in New York, the firm has locations in Washington DC, San Francisco and Hartford, Connecticut, according to its website. Axinn has 58 associates, according to its website.

Axinn Veltrop last year said associate salaries range up to $460,000, which is higher than Milbank’s latest salary upgrades. Big Law firms including McDermott Will & Schulte and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan followed Milbank’s move to increase salaries to up to $455,000 earlier this month.