Houston’s Susman Godfrey leads the pack for year-end associate bonuses, paying its associates double or more what high-performers at many large Texas firms could earn. At the 85-lawyer litigation boutique, 2006 bonuses for its partnership-track associates ranged $60,000 to $120,000. In comparison, for many big TX firms, $65,000 was the maximum bonus for their senior and top performing associates in 2006. Though the bonuses varied between firms, most agreed that for an associate to earn the maximum amount, he/she would have to be a great worker, have put in a large number of hours, and have made an overall contribution to the firm (eg pro bono work or business development).

Source: www.law.com