Sidley Jumps Into The Bonus Party!

Biglaw’s bonus season is really getting rolling! Despite the cautious economic outlook, the best of Biglaw is still giving out impressive bonuses to associates.

You always expect an elite firm like Sidley to pony up the bonus money that puts them at the top of the scale (the firm made $2,795,426,000 in gross revenue last year making it #7 on the Am Law 100), but associates still breathe a sigh of relief when they get confirmation. Today,  Sidley announced their own bonus scale, and YUP, it is a match of the prevailing market rate.

Those with “higher productivity and/or exceptional performance” will receive even more in bonus money –indeed, “in some instances significantly more” money is on the table. Bonuses will be paid prior to December 31.

As is the firm’s tradition, the memo also reflects the new salaries for each class year. Though it is a raise for individual associates, it is not a change to the compensation grid, rather an acknowledgment that each class year is graduating to the pre-established salary for an associate that’s one-year older. However, the firm did add ninth-year associates to their salary scale, with a base salary of $425,000.

You can read the full memo 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).

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