When the cart pulls the horse...
I could write 5,000 words and not be able to draw a clearer picture for you than the one conveyed in a few sentences in this piece about Cravath bonuses:
Cravath, Swaine & Moore on Monday announced year-end associate bonuses that for the most junior lawyers were at best half of what they received last year…
The head of one major New York law firm, who requested anonymity, said he was “quite honestly surprised that a major New York firm was paying bonuses this year.”
The partner said he would expect a negative reaction from clients on “any bonuses being paid in the current economy.” He said he expected that a decision to pay bonuses “would have been deferred for some number of months.”
Think about that for a minute: clients are meddling in the amount of bonus money firms are paying their associates. Wow, how in the world did we get here? I mean, that’s almost like the government telling companies how much they can pay their employees…wait a minute…
