California Boutique Hueston Hennigan Hands Out Summer Bonuses

Hueston Hennigan is rewarding its lawyers with summer bonuses up to $25,000.

The Southern California litigation boutique will dole out $10,000 to $25,000 in extra pay to associates and counsel who meet billing requirements, according to an internal email sent Tuesday by managing partner Moez Kaba.

Lawyers must be on pace to bill at least 2,000 hours to qualify for bonus payments. Those tracking to bill 2,400 hours will receive $20,000, while those who hit the 2,700 hours mark will get $25,000. The targets are based on hours billed through June, according to the email.

“The amounts are meant to specially reward those who, because of case requirements, have been putting in disproportionate time,” Kaba said in the email.

The firm declined to comment.

The special summer bonuses are not dependent on class year and will be paid in July for associates and counsel, the email said.

Hueston Hennigan appears to be the first major law firm to hand out summer associate bonuses. Law firms typically pay year-end bonuses, but have also tacked on additional summer and special bonuses during the busier times.

Leading boutique law firms in recent years have topped the Cravath scale used by larger competitors to set salaries and bonuses. Hueston Hennigan rewarded its associates with above-market bonuses in December.

Hueston’s clients have included Amazon.com Inc., Tesla Inc., Peloton Interactive Inc., and ViacomCBS, now known as Paramount Global.