Bonuses Come With Billable Hours Catch at Some Law Firms

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As expected, several large law firms have fallen in line with the associate bonus scale set by Cravath, Swaine & Moore this week. But some associates need to work harder to earn their reward than others.

As in past years, some firms are setting billable hour requirements for bonuses this year. Above the Law on Tuesday reported that associates at Norton Rose Fulbright must have 2,300 billable hours to qualify for market rate bonuses set by Cravath—in which most recent law school graduates receive $15,000—while those associates who fall below 2,300 will qualify for bonuses that are half as much as market rate.

When reached for comment, representatives of Norton Rose, which absorbed New York-based Chadbourne & Parke earlier this year, referred to “inaccuracies” in the Above the Law report but did not name specific errors. The firm did not respond when asked whether associates must record 2,300 billable hours to be eligible for the market bonuses.