Bonus news is being announced left and right, and Biglaw firms are busy stuffing their associates’ bank accounts like the Thanksgiving turkeys they’ll be gobbling down next week. The latest bonus news comes from a brand new megafirm that last night issued its first round of bonuses under its new name.
McDermott Will & Schulte — formed from the August 2025 union of McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel — has adopted the Cravath bonus scale, as well as the Milbank special bonus scale. Here’s what that looks like at the firm:
On top of these bonuses, MWS will be continuing one of MWE’s traditions of offering bonuses that go above and beyond the market scale. As chairman Ira Coleman notes in the firm’s announcement, “We remain committed to being top of market in all that we do and are pleased to note that, consistent with prior years, about two-thirds of legacy MWE Associates will earn above the Cravath scale.” We suppose legacy SRZ associates — who were formerly able to cash in on step-up bonuses for their extraordinary contributions — will be able to get in on that action next year.
Bonuses for legacy MWE associates will be paid out on December 26, 2025, while bonuses for legacy SRZ associates will be paid out on January 16, 2026.
Congratulations to everyone at McDermott Will & Schulte!
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Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of 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 Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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