Sonnenschein announces associate pay cuts, performance-based compensation system

Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal next month will cut associate salaries as part of a broader effort to revamp its compensation, staffing, training and mentoring programs for the junior lawyers. The law firm will cut associate pay on June 1, reducing pay for first-year associates in big cities to $145,000 annually from $160,000, and next year will more broadly revamp associate compensation toward a performance-based system, Chairman Elliott Portnoy said in a memo on Thursday to all associates. At the same time, the firm will create a new associate-partner committee to flesh out new associate programs.