Biglaw

Ropes & Gray Leaves Associates Empty-Handed When It Comes To Fall Bonuses

Associates aren't happy with this news.

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Another day, another successful Biglaw firm that won’t hand out early bonuses to its associates. We know it’s only been a few days, but at this point, it looks like Willkie is going to be the sole firm to blow off Cravath’s guidance. Which firm is pissing off its associates today?

That would be Ropes & Gray, a firm that landed at No. 13 in the 2020 Am Law 100 rankings, having brought in $1,903,616,000 in gross revenue in 2019. Sources tell us the firm has decided to politely pass on fall bonuses. Chair Julie Jones and managing partner David Djaha sent out a memo (available in full on the next page) just before 5 p.m. yesterday, leaving associates feeling quite discouraged:

Here’s one of the immediate reactions we received from an associate at the firm:

Predictable yet annoying. I’m on track to bill 2300 hours and crickets from the policy committee. It’s especially disheartening given how little support the firm has given its associates this year.

Eek. It sounds like the powers that be at Ropes & Gray should have given some additional thought to handing out these bonuses. At least the firm is committed to matching these bonuses in the future. Hold on, associates, because Ropes “remain[s] committed to being a market leader in compensation.”

(Flip to the next page to see the full memo from Ropes & Gray.)

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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