A revolution is brewing at the London office of Cleary Gottlieb after the firm awarded its associates a mere 12% bonus.
Cleary is one of the most profitable firms in the world and it pays its London staff accordingly. Newly qualified lawyers pull in £96,000 a year. Taking the bonus into account, that amounts to around £107,000*. Nice.
But apparently not nice enough. RollOnFriday revealed last week that competitor Skadden was matching its New York bonuses in its London office: that's a $100,000 bonus in some cases. And Cleary lawyers want the same treatment. One of them told RollOnFriday that mid to senior associates were leaving in droves after having been worked into the ground during a storming year for the firm (profits per partner - $2.7m). Against this background he said that the 12% bonus had led to "significant disquiet among the ranks", though to be fair he also pointed out that "this perhaps leads to the strains of the world's smallest violin playing in the background".
If large numbers of US firms start paying their London associates New York rates there will be massive pressure on the rest of the big City players to increase their salaries too. The Magic Circle will be praying Cleary holds its ground.
London Cleary Gottlieb partner, Glen Scarcliffe, told RollOnFriday, “we are always very grateful to our talented associates for their hard work and hope they feel well rewarded following the significant increase in both their base pay made this year (reported in RollOnFriday) and in the recently announced bonus, which we feel are appropriate in the context of the London market".
He continued, “we believe we have relatively low attrition rates. Of the six associates who left this year at the 4th year and above, three left to pursue opportunities abroad, consistent with our diverse international associate body. The other three changed careers; all left with our best wishes and deep gratitude.”
*Note for fact fans: that's more than a Brigadier General in the British army (£99,465) or a consultant surgeon on the NHS (starting salary £75,249).
Tip Off ROF
Cleary is one of the most profitable firms in the world and it pays its London staff accordingly. Newly qualified lawyers pull in £96,000 a year. Taking the bonus into account, that amounts to around £107,000*. Nice.
But apparently not nice enough. RollOnFriday revealed last week that competitor Skadden was matching its New York bonuses in its London office: that's a $100,000 bonus in some cases. And Cleary lawyers want the same treatment. One of them told RollOnFriday that mid to senior associates were leaving in droves after having been worked into the ground during a storming year for the firm (profits per partner - $2.7m). Against this background he said that the 12% bonus had led to "significant disquiet among the ranks", though to be fair he also pointed out that "this perhaps leads to the strains of the world's smallest violin playing in the background".
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Cleary, yesterday |
If large numbers of US firms start paying their London associates New York rates there will be massive pressure on the rest of the big City players to increase their salaries too. The Magic Circle will be praying Cleary holds its ground.
London Cleary Gottlieb partner, Glen Scarcliffe, told RollOnFriday, “we are always very grateful to our talented associates for their hard work and hope they feel well rewarded following the significant increase in both their base pay made this year (reported in RollOnFriday) and in the recently announced bonus, which we feel are appropriate in the context of the London market".
He continued, “we believe we have relatively low attrition rates. Of the six associates who left this year at the 4th year and above, three left to pursue opportunities abroad, consistent with our diverse international associate body. The other three changed careers; all left with our best wishes and deep gratitude.”
*Note for fact fans: that's more than a Brigadier General in the British army (£99,465) or a consultant surgeon on the NHS (starting salary £75,249).
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Brigadier is not considered to be a General Officer rank by the British Army..." [a]http://www.army.mod.uk/structure/32321.aspx[/a] .
Let the pedantry fly free!
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It's a shame loyalty is such a disadvantage in the London market...
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An NQ there is billed out at £320/ph so the partnership pulls in around 7 times the salary paid to NQs!
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