What Could Be Going on with Milbank Bonus Matches/Toppers - Dead Is Lockstep, Becoming Standard Are Outliers, Kirklandization

 Two days ago, a poster on Fishbowl Big Law noted that Milbank paid its summer bonus ahead of time. Implicitly that posting is a statement about the reality that no other law firm has matched Milbank, at least not yet. A sign of such a long delay is that there are fewer mentions of that bonus on professional anonymous networks.

So, it's overdue to look under the hood on this lack of a match or, remember the old days, a topper. 

One thing we might find is the play out of Kirklandization. As many know so well, Kirkand & Ellis is the most successful law firm in the world. 

No fools, as competition keeps ramping up globally for getting and holding both business and star talent, more law firms are embracing the Kirkland & Ellis model. And pulling away from lockstep. Without lockstep firms can ignore what supposed market-makers do. Milbank is increasingly classifed as an outlier.

Part of Kirklandization has been to establish the non-equity partner tier. Recently Paul Weiss and Wilmer Cutler did just that.

Another aspect is to make no apologies for imposing extreme demands on associates. The extension of that is to not cave to pressure to fall in line providing a bonus that is not in line with traditional protocol. There is no shortage of applicants to that law firm. And alumni I coach are grateful to have that experience on a resume.

As a result, it has become meaningless in recruiting to be saddled with the branding as a "sweatshop" or even the "most sweaty of sweatshops." Sure, it makes for tsk-tsk in gossip. But no ambitious lawyer really gives a damn. Bringing up WLB can make you seem schoolboyish/schoolgirlish.

A third piece of the model is aggressive expansion. No surprise, to get in the game on that one it's predicted there will be more mergers. A recent merged entity has been A&O Shearman. As made media headlines, with the merger came the terminations of 10% of equity partners. Kirlandization means the end of employment security, at all levels of the pyramid structure of most law firms.

However, with growth an objective comes the risk of another Dewey & LeBoeuf catastrophe. 

Overall, given Kirklandization with its reduction of the value of associates, it is not wildly speculative to envision unionization, including of NEPs since they are not owners. 

A branch of Wells Fargo has taken that option. Both for layoffs and with stealths better terms and conditions could be negotiated. 

Probably not in the cards, though, will be the "right to disconnect," that is being liberated from the mandate to respond to the partners' communications just-in-time, all the time. 

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