Elite Boutique Matches Cravath On Raises, Blows The Market Away On Bonuses
Associates at this firm are positively delighted with their mega-bonuses!
Boutique firms mean business when it comes to compensation. They recruit the best and brightest lawyers and reward them handsomely with top salaries and bonuses that often exceed the market. The latest boutique to announce raises and bonuses for associates is no different.
Selendy Gay Elsberg just announced that it would not only be increasing associate salaries to Cravath levels, but for the sixth year in a row, the firm is also surpassing Biglaw’s already generous bonus scale. This is what base bonuses look like at the elite boutique, to be paid on December 15:
- Class of 2023 – $17,250
- Class of 2022 – $23,000
- Class of 2021 – $34,500
- Class of 2020 – $66,125
- Class of 2019 – $86,250
- Class of 2018 – $103,500
- Class of 2017 – $120,750
- Class of 2016+ – $132,500
Selendy’s bonuses are 15% higher than the Biglaw numbers across the board. Plus, the “vast majority” of associates at the firm received more bonus money, “based on a holistic assessment of performance, hours, and commitment to the firm” — with some associates receiving bonuses more than 60% above market in recognition of their “extraordinary efforts.”
As mentioned previously, the firm has also chosen to use the Cravath scale for its compensation increases, meaning these are the salaries associates at the firm will see, as of January 1:
- Class of 2023 – $225,000
- Class of 2022 – $235,000
- Class of 2021 – $260,000
- Class of 2020 – $310,000
- Class of 2019 – $365,000
- Class of 2018 – $390,000
- Class of 2017 – $420,000
- Class of 2016+ – $435,000
Congratulations to everyone at Selendy Gay Elsberg!
(Flip to the next page to read the full memo from the firm.)
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Staci 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 and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
