The
Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) partnership has voted to extend the firm’s equity pay ladder in the UK in a move that will mean bigger payouts for the firm’s best-performing partners.
The modification, which expands the firm’s lockstep in the UK from100 to 130 points, will come into effect 1 May 2018.
“We can confirm that we have received partner approval for some changes to our partner remuneration system. The changes ensure that our remuneration system continues to support the business as we implement our global strategies, improves flexibility to reflect the different markets in which we operate and incentivises teams to deliver the best service from the whole firm to our clients,” HSF told
Australasian Lawyer.
“The new ‘Remuneration Policy’ will take effect from the start of the next financial year in May 2018. The firm is retaining a modified lockstep approach to partner remuneration and there are no changes to the balanced scorecard criteria by which we assess partner performance. We have introduced some new elements of enhanced flexibility. These include a wider spread of equity positions on our ladder to address different levels of contribution,” the firm said.
The changes keep HSF’s 43-to-100 “core” lockstep in the UK. It means that outside of the core eight-year partnership progression, the basis for partner pay will be more focused on contributions made to the firm by each partner.
The changes are believed to not affect the partnership in Australia, where there’s a progression from about 35 points to around 78 points in the core lockstep, but with the system already allowing partners to gain up to 130 points.
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