Winding down what firm leadership said was another successful year, Houston-based trial firm Susman Godfrey again smashed the market rate for associate bonuses by dramatically besting the scale set by Milbank.

Susman Godfrey announced Monday that it will pay many of its associates six-figure bonuses for 2019, depending on their class year and performance. The median bonus at the first-year level, for example, is $120,000, and the median bonus for the most senior associates is $235,000.

Those numbers are well over twice the amount New York's Milbank announced in November, which some others in Big Law aimed to match: $15,000 to first-year associates and up to $100,000 for senior associates.

Last year, Susman Godfrey paid associates bonuses amounting to a median of $110,000 at the first-year level and a median of $225,000 for the most senior associates, also way above market rate.

Neal Manne, a co-managing partner of Susman Godfrey, said the firm's partners, who approved the 2019 associate bonus scale on Saturday, acted with intention to up the scale from last year's already-high mark.

The 132-lawyer firm is sending a message to its associates, not to the legal industry, he said.

"Our message is thank you [associates] for helping us have a fantastic year. We are making a commitment to ensure they are compensated at the very top of our profession," he said, adding that the associates are deserving of the bonuses because they help the firm achieve success with clients.

Neal Manne Neal Manne of Susman Godfrey.  Courtesy photo

Paying high bonuses is a longstanding tradition at Susman Godfrey, a trial firm with offices in Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle. Coupled with the firm's requirement that associates must complete a federal judicial clerkship to start work, it helps solidify the firm's reputation as a place where skilled lawyers work, Manne said.

A total of 49 associates who have been at the firm for at least one full year are eligible for the bonuses. Manne said 12 new associates who joined this fall will receive a very small "Christmas gift-type" bonus.

While substantial bonuses are a recruiting tool for some Big Law firms, Manne said that's not the case at Susman Godfrey, because the firm doesn't hire laterally.

He said an associate would be "completely crazy" if he or she made a career decision based on which firm pays the highest bonuses.

"We aren't trying to bribe people to come here. By the same token, it does show the kind of people we recruit that our firm's recruiting message is grounded in reality. We really do provide people extraordinary opportunities that they just can't get anywhere else," he said.

With the huge bonuses, more than 20 percent of Susman Godfrey associates will earn at least $500,000 in 2019, the firm said.

In addition to approving the bonus scale, Susman Godfrey partners over the weekend also elected all six associates in the partnership class of 2019 to partner. They are Shawn Blackburn and Abigail Noebels in Houston; Krysta Pachman, Michael Gervais and Meng Xi in Los Angeles; and Mark Musico in New York.

The trial firm is known for its trend-setting policies. Last year, the firm adopted a mandatory retirement age that requires partners to retire at the age of 100. It also expanded its parental leave policy for associates, providing unlimited paid parental leave to all new parents, regardless of gender or whether they gave birth.

Susman Godfrey isn't the only firm exceeding Milbank's bonus scale. Last month William Reid IV, founding partner at Austin-based trial boutique Reid, Collins & Tsai, said senior associates had already been paid as much as $102,500 in bonuses and salaried junior partners got up to $312,500, with another bonus payment expected by year-end.  Also, trial boutique Wilkinson Walsh & Eskovitz announced a bonus scale paying associates up to $150,000.

Susman Godfrey's Bonus Scale (median for each class):

  • Partnership class of 2019: $235,000
  • Partnership class of 2020: $202,500
  • Partnership class of 2021: $180,000
  • Partnership class of 2022: $160,000
  • Partnership class of 2023: $140,000
  • Partnership class of 2024: $120,000
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