Wilson Sonsini, the giant law firm which grew fat in the '90s tech boom, has struggled ever since. Its involvement with many companies implicated in stock-options backdating scandals has tarnished its image, even as the faltering market for tech IPOs shrank a once-lucrative business for the firm. So who's paying the price? Wilson Sonsini associates. Above The Law reports that the firm has instituted a new bonus plan. Bonuses awarded for hours billed, the traditional measure, have been cut by half; the rest of the "bonus opportunity," as Wilson Sonsini management puts it, will come from "qualitative performance factors." By "qualitative performance factors," read "subjective judgments one's boss can make at a whim." The Valley has yet to go through an economic downturn, but some of its lawyers are already feeling the pinch.

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