Asking for bonus guarantee - Associate lateral?

Hi All,

I will be lateraling as an associate from my current firm and was hoping to get some advice on where there is opportunity to push regarding compensation / title. For context, I will likely be moving to a less reputable firm and am their top candidate. I have a friend who works at the firm and he mentioned to me I have room to negotiate and should do so.

Would be great to hear about what are reasonable asks without creating ill will. Is asking for a bonus guarantee or 1 yr step up in year reasonable? I know VPs who have received bonus guarantees, but just don't know if this is something that happens at the associate level.

They gave me a preliminary target number and I went back with a number ~10% more but in the meantime trying to get a sense of where else I should negotiate.

Thanks!

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