The 21 associates at Houston-based Susman Godfrey who have been there for all of 2012 have more cash in their wallets. The firm paid out $1.275 million in bonuses to that group on the weekend of Dec. 15. On average, the associates who have worked at the firm all year each received about $60,000, according to Neal Manne, one of the firm’s managing partners. Manne says the incoming class of associates who started in the fall of 2012 got smaller rewards than those who’ve been with the firm longer. Manne says the bonuses ranged from $35,000 for associates in the class of 2010 to $85,000 for those in the class of 2006. Manne says staff lawyers at the firm, who are neither partners nor on a partnership track, also received bonuses but generally smaller ones.
Honoring Presidents
The federal building and U.S. courthouse in Midland Texas, known as the George Mahon Federal Building, may soon be known as the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush U.S. Courthouse and George Mahon Federal Building. On Dec. 18, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to rename the building after the two presidents who once lived in Midland. The name change was announced Dec. 19 by Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, who represents Midland in Congress. Rebecca Neal, a spokeswoman for Conaway, says the name of the courthouse will change after President Barack Obama signs the bill. According to the Western District of Texas website, U.S. District Judge Robert Junell and U.S. Magistrate Judge David Counts are based in Midland. Just in case anyone gets mixed up, George Mahon, who served in the U.S. Congress and died in 1985, has another federal building named after him: the George Mahon Federal Building in Lubbock.
