Shearman & Sterling and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson have announced their intention to give associates a "special" one-time bonus as well as the traditional year-end bonus, the New York Law Journal reports.
The New York duo both said last week (9 November) that they will award special bonuses ranging from $10,000 (£4,800) up to $50,000 (£24,020). The payments come in addition to class-year bonuses of between $35,000 (£16,810) to $65,000 (£31,220).
The news comes after City giant Clifford Chance became the first UK-based firm to announce that it will give
Last month, elite Manhattan outfit Cravath Swaine & Moore became the first firm to announce its bonus plan, saying it would pay associates the two bonuses totaling $45,000 (£21,610) for first-years and going up to $110,000 (£52,840) for senior associates.
New York rivals including Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Debevoise & Plimpton, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy have since matched the payments, meaning a one-year qualified associate at a top Manhattan firm can now take home more than $200,000 (£96,000), while a senior associate can rake in around $420,000 (£201,000).
The bonus payments come less than a year after Simpson Thacher kicked off a salary war in the US when it raised its associate base salaries 10% to a new benchmark of $160,000 (£77,000), a move that was quickly followed by rivals.