New York Associate Bonuses: Deja Vu

Last year, with base salaries for first-years at $125,000, associate bonuses at top New York firms ranged from $30,000 for first-years to $60,000+ for senior associates.

This year, the news just broke that with base salaries for first-years at $145,000, associate bonuses will again range from $30,000 to $65,000—at least assuming everyone falls in line behind Milbank, who just announced first (and the falling-in-line is a pretty safe bet).

My reaction?  Given the 16% increase in base salaries over the past year, shouldn't we have expected lower bonuses in absolute dollars?  Maybe, but that overlooks the fact that most firms had very strong results in 2006.  As Mel Immergut, chair of Milbank, put it:  “We are expecting our profits per partner are going to be up double-digits.”   Trickle-down economics?

Update:  Monday 11 December:  Bloomberg now has the story, incorporating some of my remarks.