The big story of the 2024 bonus season has been special… special bonuses, that is. Milbank started the Biglaw ball rolling this summer with special bonuses (on top of typical year-end ones) ranging from $6,000 to $25,000. It took the rest of the industry several months, but now at the end of the year, *most* of the top of the industry has matched Milbank. So it was quite the surprise when top firm Hogan Lovells didn’t.
But more than just surprised, associates were pissed. HoLove is historically a very profitable firm that consistently ranks as one of the top in the nation. To associates, the move felt short-sighted (distinguishing themselves from peer firms in such an unflattering way) and cheap (all indications were that the firm continues to be profitable).
The good news is the firm has heard the associates’ grumblings. This morning, the firm sent out an email (reproduced in full below) acknowledging the discontent.
Thank you for your candid feedback regarding the absence of a special bonus in this week’s announcement. It is a fundamental strength of our firm that everyone in our community provides such feedback, and we value your perspective and input on this and other matters.
We have heard from many of you that leadership did not communicate effectively about this decision and we accept this criticism. We acknowledge that we could have handled this more effectively.
Listen, the surprise of it all wasn’t fun for associates — but that wasn’t the *problem*. As a tipster noted, “Hogan trying to do damage control on bonuses, just making matters worse. The problem wasn’t the ‘communication’ — it was the amount.”
Richard Lorenzo, the firm’s regional managing partner, went on to say the firm is working on how to “best to address the concerns raised in a positive manner.” You just… give them money. But I’m sure instead of just ponying up the cash, they’ll try to come up with some other ploy to try and quell the discontent.
Hey, as long as it doesn’t result in the bumbling kidnapping of firm leadership by Cousin Eddie, it’s a success.
Full memo below.
Remember everyone, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
