[MRM]

Usually bonus plans are written so that anyone employed on ___ date receives the bonus. Sometimes there's a provision that if you are there six months or more you get part of the bonus prorated. You need to check discretely with HR to find out how your bonus program works.

A law firm in town pays out its partnership distribution at the end of the first half - based on the previous year's profits. To leave any way other than retirement means that you lose the bonus that would go with at least six months' work.

When I left to start my own firm I waited until the bonus check was in my hand. It got paid out at the end of the first quarter so I planned around leaving sometime after April 1. The check came a week or so early, so there was a small interval between the checks being handed out and me leaving, but no one batted an eye. As a result, my new firm was founded on April 15.