It's been a tough year for many, but it's not just bankers who are getting big bonuses this year - associates in Freshfields' Restructuring and Insolvency Team are to be given a wad of extra cash before Christmas.
Lawyers in the team were paid their annual bonuses back in June, at the same time as all other London staff. But they were also offered a deferred payment on top of this if they were still around in December. This means R&I associates may be paid more than all other lawyers in the firm - and may receive considerably more than Freshfield's official bonus cap for their level of PQE. A junior associate who was paid close to the £30,000 limit back in June could now get almost the same again.
A spokesman for the firm said that this was designed "to incentivise retention of a team whose expertise was in extremely high demand within unprecedented market conditions". But other lawyers at Freshfields are unimpressed. While R&I has worked hard, insiders say that the Corporate and Banking departments are also working flat out, and the fact that they're excluded from such a big hand-out has gone down like a lead balloon.
A spokesman for the firm refused to comment on individual figures, but said that no associate had received more than £55,000 - the firm's maximum bonus payment - in total.
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Lawyers in the team were paid their annual bonuses back in June, at the same time as all other London staff. But they were also offered a deferred payment on top of this if they were still around in December. This means R&I associates may be paid more than all other lawyers in the firm - and may receive considerably more than Freshfield's official bonus cap for their level of PQE. A junior associate who was paid close to the £30,000 limit back in June could now get almost the same again.
A spokesman for the firm said that this was designed "to incentivise retention of a team whose expertise was in extremely high demand within unprecedented market conditions". But other lawyers at Freshfields are unimpressed. While R&I has worked hard, insiders say that the Corporate and Banking departments are also working flat out, and the fact that they're excluded from such a big hand-out has gone down like a lead balloon.
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A lead balloon yesterday |
A spokesman for the firm refused to comment on individual figures, but said that no associate had received more than £55,000 - the firm's maximum bonus payment - in total.