Biglaw firms continue to match Cravath’s year-end bonuses and Milbank’s special bonuses, but it’s the boutique firms where associates will really have the opportunity to stuff their wallets.
This bonus season, boutique firms have truly spread the wealth among associates, by not just meeting the market bonus scale, but oftentimes completely blowing it away. The latest boutique firm to hand out unbelievable bonuses to associates is Bursor & Fisher.
Sources at the firm have told us that Scott A. Bursor, the firm’s founder, announced bonuses last week during B&F’s year-end reviews, which were held at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. All lawyers and staff from the firm’s four offices in New York, California, and Florida were flown to Las Vegas and put up at the resort for four nights.
Bonuses at the firm are not lockstep, and are instead based on objective criteria like business origination and revenue — and at every level, they were well above the Cravath/Milbank scale (which ranges from $15,000 to $115,000, plus special bonuses ranging from $6,000 to $25,000, in case you’ve forgotten).
So, how big of bonuses are we talking?
We’ve been told that lawyers at the firm were very handsomely rewarded for their work, with bonuses ranging from $50,000 for first-year associates to $100,000 or more for second-year associates. This year’s top bonus went to an associate with three years of experience at the firm, who took home a bonus that exceeded $770,000. Yes, you read that correctly — one lucky associate at this firm received a bonus of more than three quarters of a million dollars.
A very big congratulations to everyone at Bursor & Fisher. Associates at the firm must be absolutely thrilled with their gigantic bonuses!
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Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
