Some of the most prestigious law firms have announced - on the back of lucrative M&A work - bonuses for associates of between US$15,000 and $100,00 - up from the $10,000 to $60,000 they were paying in 2013.

Abrupt change

The firms have abruptly changed the tradition as regards the announcement and procedure. Up until last year, New York-based Cravath, Swaine & Moore would make its announcement shortly after Thanksgiving Day and other firms would use its bonus statement as a start or end point. This year, several firms have jumped the gun - including Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (the first to announce), Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

Extraordinary success

This year the 850-lawyer firm Simpson Thacher made its announcement on 21 November, with a memo to staff from William Doughery, chair of the firm's executive committee. He wrote: 'We recognize that you have been working incredibly hard and has all contributed to the Firm's extraordinary success this year.' The practice is, for instance, advising Dollar General Corp in its $9.1b hostile bid for Family Dollar Stores. Source: LawFuel