New York’s legal elite are holding firm on bonus rates as US associates go into Christmas hoping for a major player to gamble and spark a hike in salaries.

Last week Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Clifford Chance confirmed their 2005 bonus rates, which range from $30,000 (£17,300) to $60,000 (£34,600). The rates match the levels set by Sullivan & Cromwell and Cravath Swaine & Moore.