Biglaw Firm Knows How To Keep Associates Happy (It’s Cash)

// The wave of raise and bonus news continues to crash through Biglaw. Yesterday, Texas firm Vinson & Elkins announced their own set of compensation bumps — in line with the market standard set by Cravath.

Last year, the firm made $934,700,000 in gross revenue making it 57th in the country. And the firm is using that cash to keep associates happy. A tipster at the firm noted how pleased they are at the firm’s willingness to keep up with the very top of Biglaw, saying, “Continue to love that V&E doesn’t play games with comp. They also lowered the bonus hours requirement this year to 1900 hours (which can include 100 hours pro bono).”

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The new compensation grid at this firm is as follows, effective January 1:

Class Year 2024 Base Salary 2023 $225,000 2022 $235,000 2021 $260,000 2020 $310,000 2019 $365,000 2018 $390,000 2017 $420,000 2016+ $435,000

The firm also took this opportunity to announce their year-end bonus scale.

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There are also supplemental, above-market bonuses available for high performers. All bonuses will be processed with the firm’s January 31 payroll.

The full memo is available on the next page.

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].

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2023 Associate Salary Increase, Associate Bonus Watch 2023, Biglaw, Bonus News Alerts, Bonuses, Money, Vinson & Elkins