Biglaw - Should Bonus Be the Same the Year of Maternity Leave?

[Anonymous]

How does your 2019 bonus compare to your 2020 bonus?

[Anonymous]

Seems like if you worked 2/3 of your hours, 2/3 of your full bonus is a reasonable expectation, assuming your qualitative feedback was also good. I don't think many places are going to give you 100% for working a partial year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you got full pay for 6 months, a raise and a pro-rated bonus and you are pissed? Did you also get a fall bonus while you were on leave like some firms have paid this year? And did you really “meet” your hours with billable work or are you including client development and other (non-pro bono) firm hours which associates at most firms can now tack on to meet their minimum hours? Honestly, as a female partner in a big law firm who took my last maternity leave over 10 years ago I find the sense of entitlement of younger attorneys astounding. Get over yourself and move on OP.

I am OP: People like this are why I am posting anonymously on a message board rather than asking about my firm’s bonus policy. There is a written policy and it specifies pro rating for people who join the firm mid-year or take an “approved leave of absence.” Elsewhere in the HR handbook, “approved leave of absence” is defined as “unpaid leave from the firm.” Since the most common kind of leave is ML/PL, the bonus policy should just say “pro rating applies for mid-year laterals and those who take any leave, to include ML/PL.”

I lateraled from the government in 2018 and no one at the firm explained the bonus policy to me or that apparently there is discretion to award less to associates for seemingly no reason.

I received a number of job offers when I left government for the private sector. If I had realized my total compensation would be what it was for 2020, I would have taken a different job offer. My firm offers 14 weeks ML. I think this is fine. Given that Fed employees now get 12 weeks, this is far from generous.

OP sounds kind of intense and angry. I'm sure you're awesome at your job, but try to slow your roll a bit. I worked in Big Law for 6 years before going in-house, and law firms are better than most employers when it comes to maternity benefits and overall compensation. For your own mental health, I recommend just focusing on all the good things you have going for you, rather than quibbling about a pro-rated bonus (when, in fairness, you did not bill time the full year and others would be subsidizing you).

Lawyers at big law firms are supposed to be intense and frankly have to care about compensation because those are the rules of the playground. More power to you OP.

I would raise the issue of your bonus, but do it smartly. Don’t talk to HR. HR has no power and just exists to protect the firm from getting sued. I would discuss with a partner (maybe some one more junior or who knows you better). My approach with that person would be: I am a little disappointed with my bonus. Should I be or do I get the right amount? Is there anything I can do to change it?

This is the right thing to do. HR is not really in control of attorney bonuses like they are staff. Many firms have a committee to handle associate evaluation and compensation. My boss is the executive-level sponsor for associate evaluations and most associates either go to my boss or the partner who heads the committee. Unless you're planning to claim discrimination, HR can't do much.

[Anonymous]

Many of these posts demonstrate a real lack of understanding of law firm fiances, and the purpose of the associate bonus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of these posts demonstrate a real lack of understanding of law firm fiances, and the purpose of the associate bonus.

This isn’t really helpful to anyone unless you elaborate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of these posts demonstrate a real lack of understanding of law firm fiances, and the purpose of the associate bonus.

Or can also demonstrate that firms take different approaches to bonuses in outlier situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these posts demonstrate a real lack of understanding of law firm fiances, and the purpose of the associate bonus.

Or can also demonstrate that firms take different approaches to bonuses in outlier situations.

What is outlier about this situation? Looking around my firm, almost everyone who has been here for more than 3 years has taken leave for some period. Parental leave is the most common type but people also take medical and bereavement.

The associate bonus is a carrot to motivate you to make hours and stay at the firm. That is why they have a scale with fixed amounts and why a lot of firms have started paying it spring of the following year rather than at Christmas/lateral season.

[Anonymous]

My maternity leave happened to fall such that it almost exactly matched the last half of the firm billing year. When I went out I was on track for a 2300+ hour year, as I'd worked almost 1200 hours. Our firm had a 2k minimum and usually started giving bumps for extra hours for any associate over 2300. I ended up with a prorated bonus that was half of a standard bonus.

I probably would have gotten the same bonus with 1000 hours, but work was really busy during the end of my pregnancy. It was physically grueling to pull overnighters at 36 weeks. I've never been more grateful to go out on leave. I was not in good physical or mental shape after working so many hours in third tri. I wish partners had pulled in help so I could have worked more normal hours (like 50/wk) instead of killing me at the end. This lack of support really bothered me.

I was actually the most frustrated that our firm didn't allow returning mothers any sort of ramp up period or allow pay for part time to be topped up if you hit a higher hours threshold. I needed more flexibility when returning. I was not physically capable of working 60/hr weeks with a baby who wasn't sleeping through the night and a toddler. I needed some time to get back into a routine and to get through that first year of infant hood. There were no options for flexibility so I moved in house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My maternity leave happened to fall such that it almost exactly matched the last half of the firm billing year. When I went out I was on track for a 2300+ hour year, as I'd worked almost 1200 hours. Our firm had a 2k minimum and usually started giving bumps for extra hours for any associate over 2300. I ended up with a prorated bonus that was half of a standard bonus.

I probably would have gotten the same bonus with 1000 hours, but work was really busy during the end of my pregnancy. It was physically grueling to pull overnighters at 36 weeks. I've never been more grateful to go out on leave. I was not in good physical or mental shape after working so many hours in third tri. I wish partners had pulled in help so I could have worked more normal hours (like 50/wk) instead of killing me at the end. This lack of support really bothered me.

I was actually the most frustrated that our firm didn't allow returning mothers any sort of ramp up period or allow pay for part time to be topped up if you hit a higher hours threshold. I needed more flexibility when returning. I was not physically capable of working 60/hr weeks with a baby who wasn't sleeping through the night and a toddler. I needed some time to get back into a routine and to get through that first year of infant hood. There were no options for flexibility so I moved in house.

Cool story, but totally unresponsive to OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My maternity leave happened to fall such that it almost exactly matched the last half of the firm billing year. When I went out I was on track for a 2300+ hour year, as I'd worked almost 1200 hours. Our firm had a 2k minimum and usually started giving bumps for extra hours for any associate over 2300. I ended up with a prorated bonus that was half of a standard bonus.

I probably would have gotten the same bonus with 1000 hours, but work was really busy during the end of my pregnancy. It was physically grueling to pull overnighters at 36 weeks. I've never been more grateful to go out on leave. I was not in good physical or mental shape after working so many hours in third tri. I wish partners had pulled in help so I could have worked more normal hours (like 50/wk) instead of killing me at the end. This lack of support really bothered me.

I was actually the most frustrated that our firm didn't allow returning mothers any sort of ramp up period or allow pay for part time to be topped up if you hit a higher hours threshold. I needed more flexibility when returning. I was not physically capable of working 60/hr weeks with a baby who wasn't sleeping through the night and a toddler. I needed some time to get back into a routine and to get through that first year of infant hood. There were no options for flexibility so I moved in house.

Cool story, but totally unresponsive to OP.

Huh? It's another data point. My bonus was prorated and I didn't get the bump for being on track to be above 2300. I also shared that in the end I was less worried about the bonus policy than It's other crappy billing policies, including not topping up attorneys who are part time but end up working full hours. And the lack of on ramping flexibility for return from maternity leave, which some firms do offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My maternity leave happened to fall such that it almost exactly matched the last half of the firm billing year. When I went out I was on track for a 2300+ hour year, as I'd worked almost 1200 hours. Our firm had a 2k minimum and usually started giving bumps for extra hours for any associate over 2300. I ended up with a prorated bonus that was half of a standard bonus.

I probably would have gotten the same bonus with 1000 hours, but work was really busy during the end of my pregnancy. It was physically grueling to pull overnighters at 36 weeks. I've never been more grateful to go out on leave. I was not in good physical or mental shape after working so many hours in third tri. I wish partners had pulled in help so I could have worked more normal hours (like 50/wk) instead of killing me at the end. This lack of support really bothered me.

I was actually the most frustrated that our firm didn't allow returning mothers any sort of ramp up period or allow pay for part time to be topped up if you hit a higher hours threshold. I needed more flexibility when returning. I was not physically capable of working 60/hr weeks with a baby who wasn't sleeping through the night and a toddler. I needed some time to get back into a routine and to get through that first year of infant hood. There were no options for flexibility so I moved in house.

Cool story, but totally unresponsive to OP.

Huh? It's another data point. My bonus was prorated and I didn't get the bump for being on track to be above 2300. I also shared that in the end I was less worried about the bonus policy than It's other crappy billing policies, including not topping up attorneys who are part time but end up working full hours. And the lack of on ramping flexibility for return from maternity leave, which some firms do offer.

[Anonymous]

PP has some good points. Some for firms alllow you to take part of your parental leave on an intermittent basis—so instead of taking 6 months then coming back full-time, you can take 5 months then 2 months part-time to ramp up. I think more people should think about this option. I can see why the firms don’t always want you to be part-time after being out 6 months...depending on your practice area and seniority level, that can be tough. If the practice area is small, the junior partners are often working double to make up for the senior associates out on leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. It’s true that I still would have taken maternity leave knowing I was going to get a 2/3 bonus. But I would not have worked so much to hit the pro rated hours requirement. I would have just done the minimum to have a respectable year and been fine getting no bonus.

Issue 2 is that I still don’t understand why I got such a low bonus. Even pro rated, my bonus should be about 40k. Not 15k.

Maybe they recognize your bad attitude and are trying to get you to quit so they don't have to fire you.

[Anonymous]

Consider yourself lucky, OP. At my Biglaw firm I billed 1850 hours the year I took my 2 month maternity leave (it was short because I had lateraled and hadn’t been there a full year). Target for bonus was 1900 so I thought I’d be well-compensated given I billed at a 2220 pace. Wrong - I got NOTHING! At first I assumed it was a mistake but when I spoke up I was told the 1900 was a hard target that wouldn’t be adjusted due to any kind of leave. I think that’s illegal but being in a vulnerable position as a new mid-level associate it’s not like I was going to try to sue the firm.

[Anonymous]

Firms that pay a lockstep bonus without an hours requirement also pay the full bonus when you’re on maternity leave.