New York associates – to say nothing of magic circle HR heads – are in for a tense two weeks as Manhattan’s legal elite pauses for Thanksgiving holiday before tipping its collective hand on the closely-watched bonus season.

While New York managing partners remain tight-lipped on the issue, all eyes are on the New York market, which effectively sets the top-end of the international labour market for lawyers, to see whether it will follow Sullivan & Cromwell’s ‘frugal’ example.