Thanks to the hot lateral market, Biglaw firms are handing out partnership offers like candy, perhaps as a way to keep their best associates from fleeing to another firm. Biglaw firms have continuously announced record partnership class sizes in response to the ongoing talent war, but one prestigious firm doesn’t seem interested in keeping up with the Kirklands (a firm where a record 151 lawyers were elevated to partner).
It was just last year that Cravath boasted one of its largest partnership classes in recent memory — and its most diverse partnership class in history — by promoting 11 associates. This year, the firm returned to its old ways, inviting six associates to become members of its partnership. Cravath has had a 6.4 new partners per-year average over the course of the past five years.
It was July when we wondered if the pandemic had broken the Cravath system. After all, the firm that typically shies away from laterals was hiring an “attorney talent recruitment manager.” Back then, the firm was willing to join the crusade to gobble up laterals but now it seems to be bucking the Biglaw trend of making partnership promotions en masse.
What other trends will Cravath be willing to buck?
Biglaw is on the precipice of 2021’s year-end bonus season, and after a year marked by bonuses upon bonuses upon bonuses, associates across the country are waiting and watching to see what Cravath will do. The firm was once the market leader for salaries and bonuses, but has allowed others to take the lead in recent years. Associates think it’s time for a change — and a big one, at that.
The $15,000 to $100,000 seniority-based bonus scale has been in place for years on end. Will Cravath step up to the plate, retake its place at the top of the compensation ladder, and offer associates more money? We suppose we’ll soon see.
Congratulations to Cravath’s new partners!
A Year After Largest Partner Class Ever, Cravath Returns to 5-Year Average [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at 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 Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
