Appreciate What You Have

Recent stories about so-called "spring bonuses" to associates at BigLaw firms, and how some associates are already complaining that they haven't been issued yet, made me wonder:  Didn't we just go through end-of-year bonuses to attorneys a couple months ago?  Who complains about not getting another bonus when they weren't guaranteed the first one anyway? 

Bonuses, or Above The Law tries to be nice and succeeds!

Above The Law wrote a very thoughtful article today about how a lot of people in this industry get no bonuses at all, and specifically mentions paralegals and secretaries.  They were tacitly chastising some of the associates who were bitching and moaning about how "low" their bonuses were.  I was working on a post myself about how self-serving, petty and childish those complaints are, but ATL beat me to the punch.  It's well worth a read, but don't venture into the comments section unless you want to get very, very angry. 

Instead, I'll just end with a short note about my personal situation.  An associate with my level of experience would be getting a bonus roughly equal to 15% of their annual salary.  My bonus this year is a shade over 4% of my annual salary, and that's twice what I got at my last firm. 

But I am NOT complaining about my bonus, in fact I'm happy to get anything extra at all.  If anyone feels otherwise, I suggest you compare the definitions of "bonus" and "entitlement" in the dictionary, then smack  yourself upside the head with a 2x4.