Milbank has rung in year-end associate bonus season, with the firm set to hand out up to $115,000 depending on seniority.

The latest bonuses are in addition to the “special bonuses” of between $6,000 and $25,000 Milbank announced it would pay in August, which have yet to be matched by its Big Law rivals. 

The bonus scale, outlined in a firm memo first reported by Above the Law, sees class of 2024 associates awarded $15,000 with incremental increases for more experienced associates rising to $115,000 for the class of 2016.

The bonuses mean that first-year associates “in good standing” could be in line for $21,000 on top of their base salaries, rising to $140,000 for those from the classes of 2016 and 2017. 

According to the memo, Milbank will pay the year-end bonuses to associates by 31 December. The firm has been an early mover in associate pay in recent years and was also the first to announce bonuses last November, with the latest scale matching that used by Milbank and its competitors in 2023. 

“The firm is having a record year and we expect to be very busy through the end of the year,” Milbank chairman Scott Edelman said in the memo. “We greatly appreciate all your efforts in supporting our clients and the firm on some of the most cutting-edge transactions, restructurings and litigations in the market.”

Bonus decisions for special associates and counsel will be decided on an individual basis and communicated separately, Milbank noted in the memo. 

Milbank also sparked a round of salary rises last November, when it raised base compensation for all its associates by $10,000. However, Cravath Swaine & Moore subsequently announced its own raises which saw it match Milbank’s base pay scale for junior associates but better it for midlevel and senior associates, with those in the class of 2017 on $420,000 – $10,000 more than Milbank.

A host of firms including McDermott Will & Emery, Paul Hastings, Paul Weiss, Dechert, Hogan Lovells, Proskauer Rose, Baker McKenzie and Skadden subsequently upped pay in line with Cravath, as did Milbank in an adjustment to its scale announced in early December.