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Lawyers in the United Kingdom of the level of levels offer lawyers higher bonuses to work longer hours while they are trying to find ways to compete with deeper rivals on remuneration.
Simmons & Simmons, based in London, RPC and Shoosmiths have launched or updated policies that reward lawyers for more hours that they charge, in some cases, additional payments of 40% of the basic salary.
According to an internal note, according to an internal note from the Financial Times. Associates must record a minimum of 2,100 hours attributable to receive the highest amount.
The company joins an increasing number of British outfits offering performance bonuses to increase discretionary payments without increasing remuneration levels at all levels, after a war for talents that considerably increased the wages of junior lawyers.
Lawyers are charged by the time for customer work, but work much more hours than they charge, which means that 2,000 bills can equip regularly with days of 12 hours or more. Simmons has already offered a “discretionary” bonus for the charged overtime, but has changed the program to quantify the exact amounts that junior lawyers can win this summer.
Simmons said that the changes were “a central part of our efforts to develop and keep talent … Support the partners through the company and reward them as proportionally for their efforts is crucial”.
British law firm RPC has also made changes to its bonus prices, which came into force on May 1, with partners capable of earning 30% of their additional salary for additional bills. The previous bonuses were capped at 20% salary.
The company said that partners should record at least 1,575 hours per year, comprising at least 1,500 billable hours and up to 75 hours of “investment time”, as pro bono, to receive a bonus of 5% salary. Bonuses increase by 1% for each 25 -hour billable hour.
Antony Sassi, general partner of RPC, said that change was a “more modern, inclusive and sustainable approach to the reward – and that we believe to reflect the next generation of legal talents”.
Companies are becoming more and more creative on who is online for bonuses, after a series of “special bonuses” linked to good authority in the pandemic era. The law firm Elite Slaughter and May have chosen not to increase the salary of its subordinate lawyers this month, holding wages for newly qualified lawyers at £ 150,000 in a panel that the pay wars can cool.
The movements of intermediate level companies are likely to rekindle concerns about the professional exhaustion of lawyers, which also reached a head during the COVVI-19 crisis. Shoosmiths, which has offices all over the United Kingdom, has introduced a bonus scheme for associates working overtime, but set a ceiling at 1,900 hours to avoid encouraging “anyone who works excessive hours in pursuit of a bonus without a cap”.
Its program allows partners to earn a maximum of 19% of salary, depending on the performance of the company. The bonuses come into play at 1,485 hours of load, the first set to pay in July 2026.
CEO David Jackson said the program was part of the firm’s ambition to be “a higher law firm from the end of the market by 2030”.
Several best international law firms, including Herbert Smith Freehills and Linklaters, have long been offering additional bonuses for more billable hours. The British HSF partners should reach 1,700 bills that are billed per year and, at 1,800, will receive a bonus, which increases the hours billed, according to a person who knows the situation.
Linklaters offers high -level partners a “disturbance bonus”, aimed at rewarding the subordinate lawyers who have worked particularly long hours a year, according to a person knowing the program. The two companies refused to comment.
