When it comes to year-end associate bonuses, it appears the legal industry’s top tier still follows Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

In the wake of last Monday’s announcement that Cravath would dole out more extra cash to its 372 junior lawyers in 2012 than it did in 2011, Legal affiliate The Am Law Daily wondered whether other large law firms would soon follow suit as usual — or hold back amid what industry watchers predict will, in general, prove to be an anemic year on the revenue front.