Unlock the digestive of free editor
Roula Khalaf, the FT editor, chooses her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
UK middle -level legal firms offer lawyers higher rewards to work longer hours as they try to find ways to compete with rivals with deeper pockets.
London -based Simmons & Simmons, RPC and Shosmiths have launched or updated policies that reward lawyers for more hours they bill, in some cases reaching extra payments up to 40 percent of the basic salary.
Simmons are offering rewards this year between 25 percent and 40 percent of salary for collaborators who record more than 1,800 bills of bills, according to an internal Memorandum from Financial Times. Associates must record a minimum of 2,100 hours charged to get the highest amount.
The firm joins an increasing number of UK clothing that offer performance rewards to increase discretionary payments without raising wage levels across the board, as a talent struggle pushed the salaries of new lawyers significantly.
Jurists charge the clock for the client’s work, but work many hours more than they bill, that is, 2,000 bills can equate 12-hour or longer work regularly. Simmons already offered a “discretional” bonus for extra billed hours, but has changed the scheme to measure the exact amounts that new lawyers can earn from this summer.
Simmons said the changes were “a central part of our efforts to develop and maintain talent.
The UK legal firm RPC has also made changes to its bonus prices, which came into force on May 1, with associates capable of earning an additional 30 percent of their salary for extra billing hours. Previous bonuses were seized at 20 percent of the salary.
The firm said collaborators were required to register at least 1,575 hours per year, including at least 1,500 hours of billing and up to 75 hours “Investment time”, such as Pro Bono, to receive a 5 percent salary bonus. Bonuses grow 1 percent for every 25 extra charge hours.
Antony Sassi, the RPC management partner, said the change was a “more modern, inclusive and sustainable reward approach – and one we believe reflects the developments of the next generation of legal talent”.
Firms are becoming more creative who is in accordance with the rewards, after a number of “special rewards” associated with a bonnza of the Pandemic era agreements. The legal elite of the firm Slaoughter and May chose not to raise their salary for its new lawyers this month, holding salaries for newly qualified lawyers in £ 150,000 in a sign that wages may be cooling.
Movements from middle-level firms run the risk of reigning concerns for the new Barnout lawyer, who also reached the head during the Covid-19 crisis. Shoosmiths, who has offices throughout the UK, has introduced a bonus scheme for collaborators who work extra hours but has set a ceiling in 1,900 hours to avoid stimulation “someone to work excess hours following a lid -free bonus”.
His program allows collaborators to earn an additional 19 percent maximum of salary, depending on the firm’s performance. Bonuses start in 1,485 hours of charge, with the first set to be paid in July 2026.
Chief Executive David Jackson said the scheme was part of the firm’s ambition to be “a leading middle market law by 2030”.
Some senior international justice firms, including Herbert Smith Freehills and Linclaters, have long provided additional rewards for more billable hours. UK associates in HSF are expected to hit 1,700 hours of billing per year and in 1800 will receive a bonus, which increases more hours billed, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Linclaters offers high -bill collaborators a “rift bonus”, which aims to reward those young lawyers who have worked especially long hours in one year, according to a program with program knowledge. Both firms refused to comment.
