Your Bonus: Obviously Your Employer Is Sending Messages (a peek into what's communicated in professional services)

"Tis bonus season. Often that is the most unambiguous communications organizations send about how they are doing financially, their culture and how they assess individual employees. 

By now everyone in the law-firm sector knows that Cravath and Paul Hastings essentially matched Milbank. The two law firms announced both an EOY and special bonus which totaled what Milbank had provided during 2024. And that's at $140,000 for the topper.

The chatter, including my conversations with those in the loop, focuses on two issues:

When will their own law firm come in with the numbers?

Will any law firm exceed the package of EOY, Special Bonus?

As for the former, no one anticipates their law firm will not at least match. It's just the agony of waiting for the official word. After all, for the three quarters of 2024, law-firm revenue has been up 12%. 

About the latter, as the posting on Fishbowl Big Law puts it this way:

"Someone has to come over the top on bonuses especially because of the positive 2025 forecast for deal flow"

That professsional anonymous network puts DPW as a possibility to exceed the whole Milbank bonus action. 

Another option, I discern, could be moneybags Paul Weiss.

Paul Weiss has been on a roll:

"Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, citing growth in all five of its core practice areas, saw its overall revenue climb 10.9% to $2 billion, a firm high. Paul Weiss also crossed the $6.5 million mark in profits per equity partner for the first time, also a firm record."

During 2024, the associate grousing about employer Paul Weiss seems to focus on the big money, along with multi-year guarantees paid to stars poached from ther firms. The three issues involved with that beef are:

Will the rainmaker lateral hires be able to sing for their supper to the extent of producing the gee-whiz ROI anticiapted? This week Paul Weiss poached two rainmaking trial lawyers, specializing in patent litigation, from Weil Gotshal.

Is that escalating activity diverting money which could go to associates? 

If the poaching ROI doesn't pan out as expected will the criteria on performance reviews be raised, with associate jobs made increasingly insecure?

In addition, there is the side issue among equity partners of the growing spread in the amounts assigned to some as Profits Per Equity Partner. That can generate internal tensions which can fester. 

As a result Paul Weiss has created a black box. But, there are hacks to make good estimates of compensation. One is to tap into a network of trusted sources at other firms to find out what comparable stars with comparable performance are pulling down. Lawyers tend to be efficient gossipers. 

In the recent past Paul Weiss did come out with an off-season bonus for the "committed." That didn't kick off a trend. Only one law firm followed. Right now, if Paul Weiss exceeds the Milbank 2024 bonus package it could kick off a trend this time. As a result, it could become known as a kind of "market maker." Its branding already is in play. That is so extensive that one wonders why so much history of the law firm is posted on the website. 

That rebranding and the reset of the personal brand of its long-time chair Brad Karp Paul Weiss have been full of strategic surprises. Among them have been the ongoing raids of Kirkland & Ellis talent, international expansion, higher profile activity in national politics and the seeming grafting on of parts of the Kirkland & Ellis personnel management system, including the creation of the nonequity partner tier. 

The Paul Weiss Class of 2024 hiring - numbering 182 - was up 48% from last year, compared to the average 14% by other law firms. That showcases extreme optimism about the amount of work to come in during 2025. Could it be a shrewd move to motivate associates in a special way by going beyond what Cravath and Paul Hastings have done in terms of bonuses?

Meanwhile, in his 2022 expose on large law firms - "Servants of the Damned" - David Enrich presented in detail the supposed mutation of law firms from a profession of public service, with moderate compensation, to businesses preoccupied with ever-increasing Profits Per Equity Partner. More recently the widespread implementation of the nonequity partner tier among law firms has been interpreted by some as enhancing Profits Per Equity Partner.  

In essence bonuses are symbols of an organization's values. They also are the organization's way of sending a message to employees. That applies to all professional services such as financial firms, public affairs agencies and the management consulting MBB. 

What Paul Weiss and other law firms announce will reveal quite a bit about who they are right now, where they are determined to be heading and what associates are designated to be on the front lines of that journey. 

In my coaching I tutor clients how to interpret the messaging their bonus is delivering. That extends from the financial health of the business to individual employment security. 

Life is hard. Business is even more difficult these days. Get answers – and relief. Jane Genova is a results-driven confidential intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator related to careers. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)