Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Hogan Lovells have joined the latest round of Big Law bonus announcements, matching the 2025 year-end and special bonus scale set by Cravath, Swaine & Moore earlier this week and signaling that the “Cravath/Milbank” bonus structure remains the dominant market template for elite firms.

Cravath kicked off this year’s U.S. associate bonus season on Nov. 18 with a memo promising associates a combination of year-end and special bonuses that together can reach $140,000 for the most senior classes. Standard year-end bonuses range from $15,000 for first-years to $115,000 for senior associates, with special bonuses between $6,000 and $25,000, repeating last year’s structure and aligning with special bonuses Milbank first reintroduced in the summer.

Paul Weiss Follows Cravath Scale

In an email to staff, Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp told associates the firm will pay both year-end and special bonuses on Dec. 22, 2025, with additional discretionary bonuses to be awarded in early 2026 for what he described as “outsized contributions” over the past year. Associates who joined in 2025 will receive prorated payments.

Paul Weiss’ combined year-end + special bonus grid matches the Cravath scale:

• Class of 2025: $15,000 + $6,000

• Class of 2024: $20,000 + $6,000

• Class of 2023: $30,000 + $10,000

• Class of 2022: $57,000 + $15,000

• Class of 2021: $75,000 + $20,000

• Class of 2020: $90,000 + $25,000

• Class of 2019: $105,000 + $25,000

• Class of 2018 and above: $115,000 + $25,000

That scale is consistent with the wider U.S. market for top-tier firms, where multiple reports peg 2025 market bonuses at $15,000–$115,000 for standard year-end payments and $6,000–$25,000 for special bonuses by seniority.

The move continues Paul Weiss’s recent pattern of tracking market-leading bonus scales. In the 2024 cycle, the firm similarly matched Milbank’s two-part bonus structure - including special bonuses—after that scale became the effective benchmark for Big Law.

Hogan Lovells Joins the Matching Crowd

Hogan Lovells also confirmed Thursday that it will match the Cravath year-end and special bonus scale, with bonuses added to associates’ final paycheck of 2025.

The decision comes after a more complicated path on bonuses for the firm. In late 2024, Hogan Lovells initially declined to pay special bonuses even as many peers matched Milbank’s double-bonus structure, a move that drew criticism and set the firm apart from much of the Am Law 50.

By the end of that year, Hogan Lovells reversed course and rolled out a second round of associate bonuses matching prevailing market levels, with total payouts (year-end plus special) again topping out around $140,000 for senior associates.

This year’s early match of the Cravath scale signals the firm’s intent to remain firmly within the competitive pack on associate compensation rather than testing alternative, leaner models.

A Wider Big Law Pattern

Cravath’s announcement this week did more than launch another bonus season—it reaffirmed that firms at the top of the U.S. market are willing to keep bonuses at record or near-record levels, even in a more uneven deal and litigation environment. 

Within days of Cravath’s memo, several other firms—including Paul Hastings, McDermott Will & Emery and Fried Frank—either confirmed or were reported to be matching the same year-end and special bonus scale, with total payouts for senior associates approaching or matching the $140,000 ceiling. 

The bonus competition is not confined to the U.S. market. In London, U.S. firms’ City offices are offering year-end and special bonuses that can reach well over £100,000, prompting headlines about American firms paying bonuses roughly three times the size of those offered by many leading U.K. firms and further intensifying the cross-border talent war. 

What It Means for Associates

For associates at Paul Weiss and Hogan Lovells, Thursday’s announcements confirm that:

• Market scale is holding: The Cravath/Milbank template for combined year-end and special bonuses remains the de facto standard at the top of the market for 2025.

• Top-of-market pay is sticky: Despite softer conditions in some practice areas, leading firms are choosing to hold the line on bonus levels rather than risk attrition to competitors.

• Discretion still matters: At Paul Weiss, at least, associates can expect an additional layer of discretionary bonuses in early 2026, on top of the matched grid, for standout performance.

As more firms announce their decisions in the coming days, the Paul Weiss and Hogan Lovells matches provide further confirmation that any Am Law 50 outfit aspiring to recruit and retain top junior talent will be judged against the Cravath scale - in both name and numbers.